A group of some two-dozen engineering students this spring put the finishing touches on a space project that will deliver a pair of small-scale satellites into low orbit in an effort to examine a section of the Earth’s atmosphere and its effects on Global Positioning System (GPS) transmissions. Dubbed ICE CUBE, the project is Cornell’s version of the CubeSat program run by Stanford University and California Polytechnic State University that seeks to engage students in the design, construction, and launch of “picosatellites.” While each CubeSat measures just 10-by-10-by-10 centimeters, they are being deployed for a variety of research tasks.

Prof. Mark Campbell (left) and M.Eng. student Terrence Brauneis.

With ICE CUBE (Ionospheric sCintillation Experiment CubeSat), the team’s scientific mission is to measure disturbances in the ionosphere by sensing variations in the signal strength of GPS using GPS units in the satellites. The measurements will be recorded and sent to the ground station on campus for full evaluation.

GPS technology is commonly used in devices that can pinpoint the location of a person or object. A problem with the satellite-based system is that periodic, rapid fluctuations in the ionosphere interfere with the transmission of GPS signals. These scintillations have been measured from the ground, but not yet from orbit.

Faculty sponsor Mark Campbell, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, explains that ICE CUBE brings together students in mechanical and electrical engineering and computer science. Not to be left out are members of the Cornell Amateur Radio Club, who will monitor the health of the satellite as well as the GPS scintillations measurements at a ground station in Barton Hall.

“We are finishing testing of the most recent prototype, which is identical to the flight units,” Campbell said in early March. To reach this point, students have spent three years, working in teams of 20 to 25 members, designing and building the satellites. “The educational experience for the students working in an interdisciplinary team on hardware that will fly in space is invaluable.”

Following test flights in April and May, the CubeSats will be shipped to Cal Poly, where they will be packed into deployment units that, in turn, will be placed on board rockets to be launched in the fall from a site in Eastern Europe.

If all goes according to plan, and Campbell has his fingers crossed, the Cornell students will be listening to and controlling two small satellites for several months, providing unique science data for the space weather community.

—Jay Wrolstad