A sounding rocket carrying the MORE experiment launched from Sweden
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Last year, the MORE (Measuring Optoelectronics in Rocket Experiment) team was chosen to represent ISAE-SUPAERO in conducting a scientific experiment on the REXUS 24 rocket. The team members are 6 MAE (Master’s in Aerospace Engineering) students (Alicia López-Guirao, Cesca Cufí-Prat, Marc Morales-Aparicio, Luis Felipe Córdova-Estrada, Pedro Manuel Vallejo-Muñoz and Fernando Puente-Roldán).
The purpose of the MORE payload was to measure the behavior of optical fiber transmissions during takeoff and throughout the flight.
This experiment is sponsored by the CSUT (Centre Spatial Universitaire de Toulouse – Toulouse University Space Center), where ISAE is a major player alongside the LAAS (UPS/CNRS). It is part of the NIMPH (Nanosatellite to Investigate Microwave Photonics Hardware) nanosatellite development project, which has the objective of testing optical components (lasers, couplers and optical fibers, etc.) to be used in future telecommunication satellites.
The sounding rocket carrying the MORE experiment was launched from Kiruna, Sweden, on Monday, March 12, 2018, at 3:30 pm. Other experiments by other European universities were also carried onboard.
This launch brought two years of work to a close.
Now a new phase begins with the exploitation and analysis of the results and feedback for future missions.
Beyond developing a real space project, the REXUS / BEXUS program gave the 9 ISAE-SUPAERO students the chance to experience unique opportunity in their time as students.
Over the past two years, they have been able to interact with European experts from the ESA, SNSB, DLR, SSC, ZARM and EuroLaunch*, and travel to various countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The MORE team would notably like to thank Jaevie Dulay and Javier Rojas-Garcés (MAE graduates) and Joaquín Peralta (TAS Astro graduate), members of the initial team, as well as Arnaud Fernadez and Nicolas Nolhier, researchers at the LAAS-CNRS for their invaluable assistance, and the DCAS (Département Conception et conduite des Véhicules Aéronautiques et Spatiaux—Department of Aerospace Vehicle Design and Control) at ISAE SUPAERO for their unfailing support.
The REXUS / BEXUS program gives students from universities and institutions of higher education from around Europe the opportunity to carry out scientific and technological experiments on research rockets and balloons. Every year, two rockets and two balloons are launched, carrying up to 20 experiments designed and built by student teams.
For further information on the REXUS/BEXUS program
* ESA (European Space Agency) – SNSB (Swedish National Space Board), DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt) – SSC (Swedish Space Corporation), ZARM (Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity)