Last week, hundreds of post-secondary students in New Brunswick eagerly awaited communication from Satellite Violet, a project that took over five years to develop and was launched into space. The satellite, named after the provincial flower, was the first New Brunswick-built satellite to be sent into outer space as part of the larger Canadian CubeSat project. However, the satellite is currently not responding as expected, leaving the team of students and faculty who worked tirelessly on the project in a state of suspense.
The bread-loaf-sized Satellite Violet was a joint effort among more than 300 students and faculty at the University of New Brunswick, the Université de Moncton, and New Brunswick Community College. The objective of the project is to study and collect data on the ionosphere, the uppermost part of the earth’s atmosphere, for a period of three months to two years. Despite the lack of communication from the satellite, Troy Lavigne, one of the project’s officers, remains optimistic and believes that the issues with the satellite may be related to its antennas not deploying yet.
There are several potential reasons for the lack of communication with Satellite Violet, including the antennas not deploying or issues at the ground station in New Brunswick. The team is working through these potential issues and exploring different solutions to establish communication with the satellite. If the antennas have not deployed, there is a fishing wire holding them down that is expected to degrade naturally in outer space, allowing for communication to be established. However, if the antennas are damaged, a risky command can be sent to transmit information, potentially causing even more damage to the satellite.
Despite the challenges faced by the team, they remain hopeful and determined to make contact with Satellite Violet. Samiha Lubaba, a master’s student at the University of New Brunswick who joined the Violet team in August 2023, is assisting with the communication efforts. She remains optimistic and believes that there are still several alternate solutions that could lead to communication with the satellite. Even though the process is stressful and uncertain, Lubaba is confident that the team will succeed in establishing communication with Violet and receiving the data they have been eagerly awaiting.
The team’s dedication and perseverance are evident as they continue to troubleshoot and explore different avenues to establish communication with Satellite Violet. Despite the challenges, they are determined not to give up and are prepared to take risks to ensure that the project is successful. The ultimate goal of the project was to prepare the next generation of space industry professionals, and even if communication with Violet is never established, the project will still be considered a success. The team is committed to exploring all possibilities and remains hopeful that they will soon be able to make contact with their satellite.
