On June 30, 2003, the first Japanese CubeSats were launched from Plesetsk, Russia.
Followed by their successful launch and operations, we focus on the origin of the world-wide "CubeSat" project.
We are happy to introduce the interview of Professor Bob Twiggs at Stanford University, the founder of "CubeSat" project, about the successful Japanese CubeSats and his future visions.


in English : | 1 | 2 | 3 |

in Japanese : | 1 | 2 | 3 |

Q.Why did you establish the world-wide cube sat project?

It was in our best interest to have many universities participating in the development work we were doing with our students. This would provide a demand for launch services that when coordinated would bring enough funding that would be of interest to launch providers.
It was also of interest to us to set up a collaborative university program where students could share their research and achievements on a global basis

Q. How do you see the successful launch and operations of the two Japanese CubeSats?

The success of the two Japanese CubeSats is a premier example of what we had hoped the CubeSat program would bring. The University of Tokyo and Tokyo Inst. of Tech, have been eagerly sharing the information that they have learned in the flight of their CubeSats such as thermal performance which if valuable design information for all of us.

Q. What is the most important key for conducting a student satellite project?

Our major objective in having these projects is to teach systems engineering and give students relative industry experience before graduation. I believe the key from the student's prospective is to have a 'real' project that will go into space. Working with something associated with space is still an exciting opportunity for students and most engineers.

Q. What kind of advice do you give to students when they have a hard time with technical developments?

Students should realize that having hard technical problems on this university project is no different than they will encounter when the go into industry. If all of the technical problems were easy, it would not present the challenges that they now face and the satisfaction gained in solving these problems. They may need to consult all of the possible resources to solve these problems such as government and industry engineers. When working on projects in a university, the work that the students do, is of no threat to government and industry research organizations because the universities are not competitors. This then allows the students, in most cases, to have a free exchange of information. This is not possible once the students are working in industry because then there is the proprietary competition.

in English : | 1 | 2 | 3 |

in Japanese : | 1 | 2 | 3 |

UNISEC

Professor. Bob Twiggs  
Space Systems Development Laboratory, Stanford  
The founder of student satellite projects including  
CanSat and CubeSat