News & Events

CUAVA, the Australian Research Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs and their Applications led by the University of Sydney, is pleased to announce the CUAVA-2 satellite has now been in orbit for over 110 days, completing over 1800 revolutions around the Earth.  Like its sister-satellite, Waratah Seed-1, the CUAVA-2 mission launched into orbit on 17 August 2024 (AEST) on the SpaceX Transporter 11 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. It was then successfully deployed approximately 515...

We are thrilled to share that this morning Sydney time both the CUAVA-2 and Waratah Seed-1 CubeSats were deployed into orbit by Exolaunch and SpaceX (first image) and that both satellites are alive, well, and communicating with us (second image). Congratulations and thank you to the many team members and partners that have made this possible, including all those at the ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs, and their Applications (CUAVA) , Waratah Seed Space...

Congratulations to CUAVA student Lincoln Bourke, who is off to NASA!   Limilngan and Mudburra man, Lincoln Bourke, an engineering and physics student, will spend 10 weeks at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory exploring how equipment could interact with the surface of other planets.  First joining CUAVA in 2022, Lincoln Bourke has been chosen as part of the first cohort for the National Indigenous Space Academy (NISA). NISA is based at Monash University and supported by the Australian...

CUAVA is excited to announce the delivery of the Electro Permanent Magnetorquer (EPM) payload, in preparation for integration into the CUAVA-2 Satellite, scheduled for launch in early 2024.   The Electro Permanent Magnetorquer is a CubeSat-ready magnetorquer designed by a team at the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering (AMME) at the University of Sydney. The team comprises of Zihao Wang, Xiaofeng Wu and Youngho Eun.  Unlike conventional magnetometers, the electro-permanent magnetorquer utilises hard magnetic...

CUAVA has reached a major milestone in our mission to launch CUAVA-2 in early 2024. We are thrilled to announce that we have received the flight model of the CROSS Star Tracker payload. The CROSS payload for CUAVA-2 is designed to demonstrate a wide-field-of-view (WFOV) star tracker. It is designed as a compact and cost-effective star tracker that removes barriers for CubeSats to achieve high accuracy attitude determination using known positions of bright stars as...

CUAVA has reached a major milestone in our mission to launch CUAVA-2 in early 2024. We are excited to announce the delivery of the GPS Reflectometry Payload, Harry3.   The CUAVA-2 GPS reflectometry payload is developed by a team from the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER) at the University of NSW. Key researchers on this team are Aldi Rivaldi, Joon Wayn Cheong, Eamonn Glennon, Phu Le, Ben Southwell and Andrew Dempster. The CUAVA-2 GPS...

The Perovskites in Orbit Readiness Test (PORT) Payload has been delivered to CUAVA in preparation for its integration onto the CUAVA-2 Satellite. This delivery marks an exciting major milestone in our CUAVA-2 mission, set to launch in early 2024. Designed by the University of Sydney Space Solar Cell Research Team, led by Anita Ho-Baillie, Laura Granados, Tiaan Stals, Arafat Mahmud, David McKenzie, and Iver Cairns, the PORT payload seeks to be the first demonstration of...

CUAVA is excited to announce the delivery of the CXT, in preparation for integration into the CUAVA-2 Satellite, scheduled for launch in early 2024.   The Charge Exchange Thruster (CXT) is a novel electric propulsion system invented and developed at the University of Sydney. It was developed by CUAVA partners Richard Bowden-Reid, Joe Khachan, and Iver Cairns, all working within the School of Physics, University of Sydney.    Image: CXT Flight model for CUAVA-2. Image shows...

CUAVA is delighted to announce that CUAVA PhD student and researcher Joshua Critchley-Marrows was awarded the W.G.P. Lamb 2023 Award from the Royal Institute of Navigation, presented in London on Wednesday 21 June 2023. Joshua Critchley-Marrows is the Director of research group CROSS, whose star tracker payload will be flown on CUAVA-2 mission early 2024. The Royal Institute of Navigation is a UK-based organisation, and is internationally recognised as a global authority on topics of...

CUAVA has reached a major milestone in our mission to launch CUAVA-2 in early 2024. We are thrilled to announce that we have received all partner payloads, including the delivery of the Electron Density and Debris Instrument (EDDI).  The EDDI payload is an impressive piece of technology, designed at the School of Physics, University of Sydney, led by Quinn Musulin, Iver Cairns, Joe Khachan, and Philip Leong. The primary purpose of the EDDI instrument is...

Professor Iver Cairns, Director of CUAVA and the Waratah Seed Space Qualification Mission Iver Cairns has been awarded SCIENTIST OF THE YEAR 2023 by the Australian Space Awards. Winning from a group of 10 finalists, Professor Iver Cairns has dedicated his award to the scientists and students helping build Australia's space industry through CUAVA training centre. The awards event was held at the International Convention Centre in Sydney on Wednesday evening, 17 May 2023. Congratulations Iver! Read more about his win at University of Sydney News. Photo: University of Sydney...

We are pleased to announce that research centre SmartSat has committed over $1 million to support the development of new tech that will be tested on the Waratah Seed WS-1 rideshare mission, Australia’s first space qualification-focused ride-share mission. Andy Koronios, CEO of SmartSat CRC, said Waratah Seed is an historic step for NSW’s space industry. “SmartSat welcomes NSW’s commitment to Waratah Seed, and we are excited to be a part of such a momentous project. We...