Educational Programs: Investment with a Large Return (Postprint).

摘要

Educational programs provide opportunities for organizations and individuals to help shape the direction of the aerospace industry while strengthening their own competitive edge. With an engaged customer, a rigorous educational program, and a motivated student community, innovative ideas translate to actual programs and true scientific or technological investigations at a significantly lower cost while continuing to inspire the next generation of aerospace engineers. The University Nanosat Program (UNP) is one such example that attempts to partner schools, agencies, companies, and individuals across the community to provide a requirement-based, small satellite (pico/nano/micro satellite class) education. The recent launch of FASTRAC (microsat) and the upcoming launches of CUSat (microsat), DANDE (microsat), COPPER (CubeSat), and Ho oponopono (CubeSat) point to the program's success, which is already illustrated by the large number of UNP graduates contributing to the global small satellite community. Programmatic lessons learned from the current satellite efforts will be briefly discussed in addition to some of the current efforts to leverage the highly capable group the UNP community represents.