From 2 to 6 October 2023, the 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) was held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, a country on the Caspian Sea. During the congress, the awarding ceremony of the 2nd Space Universities CubeSat Challenge jointly organized by the Chinese Society of Astronautics and the International Astronautical Federation was held. After rounds of competition, the team of Beihang University and the team of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne won the international championship.

As one of the champions, the Space Ranger team of Beihang University will send their works into space by Chinese rocket for free!

Winning team: Space Ranger

Space Ranger Team Photo

The Space Ranger team is formed by 11 undergraduates from School of Astronautics of Beihang University. They are committed to establishing a global space debris surveillance constellation through international cooperation and thereby contributing Chinese wisdom and methods to the peaceful exploration and utilization of space.

Their work, CubeSat for Space Debris Surveillance, is a 3U CubeSat with two unique payloads: an optical payload for observation and an impact-based payload for micro-debris detection.

The team developed the overall plan of the CubeSat, designing the optical integrated structure, and presented the innovative micro-debris detection payload, which is composed of a deployable double-layer thin film with de-orbiting function. They also  elaborated the designs of each subsystem and explained the key technologies in detail.