Educational design of Estonian student satellite program

摘要

We present the concept, educational design, and achievements of the first five years of the Estonian Student Satellite Program (ESSP). Established in 2008, the ESSP is a nation-wide informal initiative with strategic objective to support the innovation and long term economic growth in the country. More specifically, the ESSP activities are designed to popularize careers in research and technology, to provide high-school, undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students with the hands-on experiences in space technology development, and to promote the knowledge based economy as the key factor for the economic independence of Estonia. The flagship project of the program is development of the first Estonian satellite ESTCube-1, which is a 1-unit Cube Satellite to be launched to space in April 2013.