The University of Glasgow, UK, and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, will collaborate in the design and launch of an experiment onboard the REXUS rocket in March 2010.
The experiment name Suaineadh is a Scots Gaelic word meaning "twisting".
The experiment objectives are to deploy a space-web using centrifugal forces and to stabilise the web once full deployment has been achieved. The payload consists of a central hub section (mother), 2x2 m square web and four corners masses (daughters) attached to the web. Prior to the deployment; the net and corner masses will be wrapped around the hub with an approximate stowage volume of 10 cm3. The ejection of the system from the REXUS rocket will occur at an altitude of approximately 62 km.
An onboard reaction wheel is used to spin the system to the required angular velocity for the deployment sequence to begin. At a safe distance from REXUS the constraints attaching the daughter sections to the mother are released and they begin to deploy due to the centrifugal forces acting on the system. As the web approaches full deployment the reaction wheel is used to prevent recoiling effects. Data acquisition commences as deployment begins and continues until REXUS is out of range of the system. The data acquired will be used to validate simulations from previous Ariadna Studies.
Students set to launch space web Glasgow Guardian • 28 April 2009 http://www.glasgowguardian.co.uk/news/students-set-to-launch-space-web/
Glasgow student project launched into space STV News • 09 April 2009 http://news.stv.tv/scotland/87558-glasgow-student-project-launched-into-space
Students in a spin after ESA commission space-web University News • 07 Apr 2009 http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_115222_en.html
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Available in pdf format
Students in a spin after ESA commission space-web
It is not often that students see the final results of their projects launched into orbit but that is exactly what will happen for seven students from Glasgow University & two students from KTH in Sweden. They are aiming for the stars after being commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) to construct a space-web to be launched onboard a rocket in March 2010.
The space-web is a flexible structure made from a high performance polymer - an ultra-light, ultra-strong fibre used in a variety of applications including fishing lines - which will be deployed once the rocket reaches orbit. The space web is deployed and kept rigid by exploiting the centrifugal forces experienced by spinning the web structure: the same force experienced when a car goes round a sharp bend or on some fairground attractions.
The webs can act as lightweight platforms for the construction of large structures in space without the huge costs of launching heavy materials from Earth. Using miniature robots to build as they crawl along the web: huge satellites to harness the Sun's energy or antennas for further exploration of the universe may be constructed.
The team of Ph.D. students that will construct the space-web is an international group, with members from Europe, Canada, Malaysia and China - and they have just one year to prepare for its launch from Esrange in northern Sweden.
The project is part of an ESA programme of experiments for university students conducted on rockets and balloons. The team had to present their proposal to a panel of experts from the ESA, Swedish National Space Board, Swedish Space Corporation and German Aerospace Centre.
Chris Murray commented: "This is certainly a great opportunity for all of us. We will have 30 seconds to deploy & stabilise the web so we need to make sure it works first time as there can be no second chance. If we are successful it will give us the greenlight to develop our work further. We are confident that we can make this work and meet the tight deadline and I think we put that across to the panel when the selections were made. We're giving it everything we've got."
The team will be able to call on Matthew Cartmell, James Watt Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Glasgow and the UK's leading authority on space tethers; and Dr Max Vasile, also at the University of Glasgow, a highly experienced space systems engineer.
For more information, contact Stuart Forsyth in the University of Glasgow Media Relations Office on 0141 330 4831 or email s.forsyth@admin.gla.ac.uk.
The team is composed of Masters and Ph.D. students from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, and The Royal Institute for Technology in Sweden (KTH).
Christopher Murray |
University of Glasgow, Scotland Background: Mathematics and physics, Aerospace engineering. Interests: Motorised momentum exhcange tethers, mathematical modelling. Project area: Hub subsystem and structural design. |
Pau Mallol |
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden Background: Mechanical and aerospace engineering. Interests: Space environment, rocket dynamics. Project area: Web deployment ground tests and deployment simulations. |
Rafael Ritterbusch |
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden Background: Mechanical engineering. Interests: Finite element analysis. Project area: Web configurations and deployment simulations. |
Yi Chen |
University of Glasgow, Scotland Background: Mechanical engineering. Interests: Intelligent control, dynamic modelling and simulation, space tethers. Project area: Experiment ejection mechanisms. |
Norilmi Ismail |
University of Glasgow, Scotland Background: Mechanical engineering. Interests: Symbolic computational dynamics for space tethers. Project area: Web daughter sections. |
Christie Maddock |
University of Glasgow, Scotland Background: Aerospace and electrical engineering. Interests: Telecommunications, spacecraft formations, orbital dynamics and control. Project area: Communications, power, deployment trajectory. |
Andrew Mathieson |
University of Glasgow, Scotland Background: Mechanical engineering. Interests: Design and optimisation of ultrasonic tools. Project area: Finite element analysis of structural components. |
Malcolm McRobb |
University of Glasgow, Scotland Background: Mechanical engineering. Interests: Energy harvesting, design optimisation, non-linear dynamics. Project area: Finite element analysis of structural components. |
Chris Unsworth |
University of Glasgow, Scotland Background: Computing science. Interests: Constraint programming, specialised constraints, stable matching problems. Project area: Software programming. |
Experiment overview
The concept of a space-web originates from the Japanese Furoshiki satellite: a large net held in tension using radial thrusters or through the centrifugal forces experienced by spinning the whole assembly. It is proposed that the web can act as a platform for the construction of applications which require large deployable structures such as solar sails, solar power satellites and large antennas.
The web acts as a platform for small robots which crawl along the web constructing the application as they move along the web. There have been several experiments conducted on the deployment of the space web: in 2006 the deployment of a Furoshiki web by the Japanese ended in a chaotic deployment sequence when out plane perturbations caused the radial thrusters to fire in the incorrect direction.
The only successful deployment and spin stabilisation of a large space structure was the Russian Znamya-2 experiment in 1993. In this experiment a more reliable method of deploying a space-web using centrifugal forces will be utilised in conjunction with a simpler method of controlling the stabilisation of the system. Two options are available: the active control method which uses a reaction wheel to counteract the centrifugal forces as the web approaches full deployment or the simpler passive control method which uses a simple stick-slip clutch system for the same purposes.
Download a poster
Experiment objectives
Preliminary Schedule
| 1 Sep 2008 | Announcement of opportunity for REXUS 7/8 experiments |
| 17 Nov 2008 | Deadline for applications |
| 19 Dec 2008 | Announcement of shortlisted proposals and invitations to workshop |
| 2-6 Feb 2009 | Workshop at DLR Bonn, Germany, resp. ESA-ESTEC in Noordwijk, The Netherlands |
| 13 Feb 2009 | Announcement of final selection of experiments for REXUS 7/8 |
| 23-28 Mar 2009 | Student Training Week and Preliminary Design Review (PDR) at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany |
| Jul 2009 | Critical Design Review (CDR) |
| end Dec 2009 | Delivery of experiments to Bremen or Esrange for Experiment Acceptance Review (EAR) |
| tbd Mar 2010 | REXUS 7/8 Launch Campaign at Esrange |
| Jun 2010 | Submission of Experiment Reports |
REXUS-specific reports
Academic papers and reports
Rocket-borne EXperiments for University Students
The REXUS program is an annual sounding rocket program for university students and aims to provide practical experience from a real space project. REXUS is a cooperative programme implemented by the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) together with DLR Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) and is financed by the Swedish National Space Board and DLR.
The basic idea behind REXUS is to provide an experimental space platform for students in the field of aerospace technology. Besides additional study motivation, the students also gain experience in scientific experimental probe design, project team work and management which are important knowledge for their future careers.
REXUS experiments are launched on a unguided, spin-stabilised rocket powered by an Improved Orion Motor with 290 kg of solid propellant. It is capable of taking 40 kg of student experiment modules to an altitude of approximately 100 km. The vehicle has a length of approx. 5.6 m and a body diameter of 35.6 cm.
The sounding rocket is launched usually around March, from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden.
For more information visit www.rexusbexus.net.
