The First AIST: 10 Years in the Orbit

 

AIST of the first series is a cube-shaped spacecraft with dimensions of 400x500x600 mm and its weight of 39 kg (without the separation device). On April 21, 2013, it successfully undocked from the BION-M1 and moved into its own circular orbit with its height of about 570 km and inclination of 64.9°. Such a launch scheme was implemented for the first time in the world. Since April 22, 2013, telemetry data have been received from the AIST. The estimated service life of the satellite was 3 years, but communication with it has not been lost to date, although now the power of the radio signal coming from the AIST has significantly reduced.

The idea to send the own satellite into space arose in the student environment. In 2006, that initiative was formalized. At the University, the Youth Research and Innovation Center appeared to coordinate the project work. The similar structure was established in the PROGRESS RSC. 

There was already a precedent in the history of the University: at the end of the 1980s, 4 graduate students, together with the University teachers and researchers, as well as the NAUKA Intercollegiate Scientific Research Center, participated in development of the simplest, but very necessary at that time, artificial satellites “PEON” (which is the abbreviation in Russian for “Passive Artificial Object of Observation”). In 1989–1992, 6 such “balls” were placed in different orbits and provided valuable data for calculations of uncontrolled descent of space objects in the Earth’s atmosphere. Then it was proposed to create a full-fledged satellite, with its own power supply and scientific equipment.

The name of the series of spacecraft “AIST” was proposed by one of the project active participants, Associate Professor Aleksandr Prokhorov. AIST is an abbreviation that stands for “Aviation Institute”: until 1990, Samara University was called Kuibyshev Aviation Institute, and its logo was a stork against the background of the rising sun. 

The project was supported by academician Viktor Soifer, who at that time was the rector (now he is the president of Samara University). This baton was taken by the next rector – academician Evgeny Shakhmatov (now he is the scientific supervisor of the University).

The satellite platform was developed, as it is now customary to say, by the group headed by Professor Vadim Salmin. Development of the scientific equipment complex was headed by Professor Nikolay Semkin. 

The AIST project had to solve several tasks. Firstly, to involve the youth of the university and the PROGRESS RSC in development of promising samples of space technology. Secondly, to help the space enterprise where everything was set up to create vehicles weighing several tons, gain experience in designing and manufacturing small-sized satellites on the base of the unified small-sized space platform weighing up to 50 kg. Thirdly, both the project itself and its results were to become part of the educational and research processes at Samara University. Fourth, the AIST project had to solve a number of serious scientific and technical problems. Sets of scientific equipment “MAGCOM” and “METEOR” were developed for the satellite. All these tasks have been successfully solved. 

Students and young employees of the PROGRESS RSC became the main driving force of the project. On the part of the enterprise, the project was supervised by the youth sector headed by Sergey Safronov, who had just defended his diploma at Samara University and came to work for the PROGRESS RSC. Considerable part of the factory workers who took part in the project were also the University graduates. There was close long-term cooperation of generations: yesterday’s student, having got his job at the enterprise, continued to work on the project, but already in the status of engineer in production, and his younger colleagues remained at the university.

Selection of personnel for participating in the project was a live process. The student’s age and specialization did not matter. Project coordinators provided students with access to the production and advised them. Main difference from the standard training scheme was that a student of Samara University usually came to the PROGRESS RSC for internship for the first time after the fourth academic year. And for participants of the AIST project, the internship began at once, and was integrated in the educational process. 

This approach fully corresponded to the general concept of training students at Samara University, which is expressed in the formula “Education through research”.

Since August 2015, when the Ground Control Complex for Small Spacecraft was opened at the University, the PROGRESS RSC has completely transferred control over the AISTs of the first series to Samara University. Since that time, scientists, postgraduate students and undergraduate students independently form the satellite flight program and plan experiments on board.

In particular, using the MAGCOM equipment, the Earth’s magnetic field was monitored and microgravity problems were explored. One of the operating modes was the mode of compensation of the low-frequency component of micro-accelerations on board the spacecraft. 

The METEOR scientific equipment explored the behavior of high-speed mechanical particles of natural and artificial origin (micrometeoroids), estimated their mass and speed, and also researched electrification of the apparatus and the dynamics of changes in surface charge.

Over the past ten years since the launch of the spacecraft, such a significant array of telemetry and scientific data has been accumulated that its study continues even today. The results of the spacecraft’s operation have been published in Russian and international highly-rated journals. 12 candidate dissertations and more than 100 graduation papers of students of specialty, bachelors and masters of Samara University have been defended.

The AIST project allowed the University to form its own orbital grouping. And for the community of Samara University and the PROGRESS RSC, creation of the grouping of two modest scientific AISTs has become a springboard for developing the line of small-sized Earth remote sensing satellites AIST-2D, AIST-2T, and other similar spacecrafts to be currently designed. 

In 2021, Samara University scientists developed and patented the unified AIST-3 space platform. This is the next step in developing the ideas encouraged by the AIST project.