Erdbeobachtung MOVE-II

MOVE-II

MOVE-II (Munich Orbital Verification Experiment) is a CubeSat, a 10 x 10 x 13 cm satellite with a mass of 1.2 kg. It is the second satellite of the Technische Universität München (TUM) as the successor mission of First-MOVE. MOVE is an acronym for "Munich Orbital Verification Experiment". As the second satellite of its series, the acronym is added to the number "II".

The CubeSat is developed in a cooperation between the Institute of Astronautics (LRT) and the Scientific Consortium for Rocketry and Spaceflight (WARR). Currently about 60 bachelor and master students of different faculties are working in the satellite project, mainly in their spare time, and are supported by 2 PhD students.

In the space industry it is common practice to verify new technology by means of so-called "precursor missions" and, if successful, to use it in larger and therefore often more expensive projects. The development of the satellite pursues the same goal. The TUM develops and verifies a so-called "satellite bus", i.e. the components of a satellite necessary for the operation of a payload, in its mission. This bus consists, among other things, of the communication system, the on-board computer, the attitude control system, the electrical supply system, the structure and the thermal control system. As a scientific payload, the performance and degradation of novel solar cells are verified on the satellite, which will be launched into space for the first time with the mission.

MOVE-II is funded by the Space Agency of the German Aerospace Center with funds from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy on the basis of a resolution of the German Bundestag under the funding code 50 RM 1509. The idea of the training project is, among other things, to complement theoretical knowledge from lectures with practical work on the satellite. It is hoped that this experience will enable a new generation of experienced space engineers to grow up. The CubeSat was launched in November 2018 by a Falcon-9 launch vehicle into a sun-synchronous, 575-km orbit.