Oufti : a great concept for a mini-satellite
On 22 April at 23:02, a rocket will take off from Kourou, French Guiana. This will carry a nano-satellite, Oufti-1 , built by the University of Liège (ULg) and its students. This is the first Belgian non-industrial satellite, the first implementation of its kind.
This is a first in Belgium: Oufti-1 (acronym for Orbital Utility For Telecommunication Innovations) will be the first satellite entirely built in our country, and more especially in Liege.
The European Space Agency (ESA) selected last July the Oufti project. It was primarily an educational adventure that mobilized about fifty engineering students from the University of Liege, and other High Schools, such as Gramme and ISIL.
Oufti-1 will not be used for commercial purposes, but will have two main functions. As the first, since the satellite is equipped with the D-STAR digital technology, it will test a new digital communication protocol in order to have a signal of better quality. It will also test new solar cells of high efficiency.
The construction of the satellite was not easy; the project managers indeed faced many obstacles. There was never any satellite built at the University of Liège, so it was a great first, which was marked by trials, errors, but also discoveries.
The launch of Oufit-1, scheduled for 22 April, will also be followed live from the room "Lambert Noppius", located in the Opera complex in the city of Liege.