The HEPTA-Sat (Hands-on Education program for Technical Advancement) training is underway in Kenya. The programme started yesterday with an opening ceremony, and it’s on its second day.
The HEPTA-Sat training is a hands-on study of small satellite design and engineering over several days of intensive practical lessons. HEPTA-Sat hand-on course puts its focus on establishing the knowledge of system engineering by going through the whole process of system integration. During the course, students learn how the system is broken down into different subsystems (requirement), how to integrate those subsystems into a fully functioning system, and how to test and debug it once integrated. The programme has the support of a vibrant instructor community and is open to people of different educational or professional background, with teaching methods designed to be implemented in existing universities anywhere.
HETPA-sat is developed by Prof Yamazaki from Nihon University in Japan. The training consists of seven steps. By taking a course with the HEPTA-Sat kit, students can learn the subsystems of a CubeSat-class satellite. The kit consists of a classroom satellite of the CubeSat type equipped with three primary subsystems – EPS, CDH and Communications, supported by a 3D-printed structure and sensing elements. Trainees will hone their skills in design methodology, electronics, power supply, communications, programming in C, GPS tracking, and many other relevant fields of applied technical knowledge. At the end of the training, participants have to devise their mission and use the complete HEPTA-Sat kit as a genuine satellite bus supporting their payload.
The programme has invested over 300 training hours on 294 trainees from 53 nationalities, with nine host countries, including Sofia, Bulgaria, October 2017; Kathmandu, Nepal in November 2017; Stellenbosch, South Africa in December 2017; Adelaide, Australia, January 2019; Al-Ain, United Arab Emirate in March 2018; Strasbourg, France, November 2018, and in Muscat, Oman, December 2018.
The programme, earlier in the year, held training in Rwanda from March 4-8 at the University of Rwanda.
​