January Newsletter

Overview

As 2024 drew to a close, PAST focused on preparing all projects for action and laying the foundations for exciting advancements in 2025. Looking back on PAST’s first full year as a team, it’s been remarkable to see the growth of our members and departments, and everything we’ve accomplished to date. Some projects have already been finalised and approved, with many more close to completion in time for launches planned for 2025. New deadlines have been set as the new year commences, and our leadership team has been expanded. A big congratulations are in order to all who have been involved, and we hope to expand and collaborate with even more students in the future!

ADCS Advancements

ADCS is off to a cracking start! After Indi, our newest ADCS Representative, was elected, a yearly plan for ADCS was proposed for the department. The first version of the air coil has been finished, with future revisions to come. Work on the Helmholtz cage for the test bed has begun, and research has been undertaken to understand the requirements for an effective test bed.

Buck Buck Buck, a Buck Converter project, has continued to make progress with developments on the schematic and PCB in Altium. A close out report for the magnetometer project is being written to include extended scope, such as Euler angle calculations and Kalman Filter research. Moreover, OSIRIS, the Sun Sensor Project, has made tremendous developments with the start and completion of the Altium Test Board which awaits manufacturing in February.

Image of the completed Magnetorquer Test Board in Late January.

As January came by, members finished the Test Board PCB for Sun Sensors, with extra revisions, such as the addition of op-amps, being made. A new air coil has been wound, and a new board soldered for magnetorquer testing. The ADCS team worked on debugging two of the rods and writing up documentation for the project. As attitude sensor testing begins, members will develop their Altium skills and start concept designs needed for the task.

A 3D PCB of Sun Sensors in Altium in Late January.

Mechanical Progress

The mechanical department has been collaborating with the other technical departments to discuss optimal features for future versions and manage high-priority tasks. Deployment testing for STARCOMM and the first prototype for DANY has been done. The HAB chassis’ waterproofing and protection systems have been designed, and CAD sketches for all the parts have been made – assembly of parts and refinements of the model to follow.

Avionics Developments

Avionics is currently working on several tasks among its members, and it has been a collaborative effort to get so many components up to speed! SOLIS has mostly been completed and edited, with a board review and finalisation needing to be done, and the BMS PCB is in the works. Pins for FISH have been planned out and organised to determine the correct setup, with the schematic for FISH being finished as well. As we returned for 2025, members worked on soldering the BMS test board, researching battery heating and troubleshooting the power source for a buck.

An image of the Battery Monitoring System as of late January 2025.

Marketing and Engagement

Marketing has been working on a 2025 marketing plan and recruitment of more members for the new year. Updated banners and posters have been produced, and our team’s social media pages have been refreshed to bring all content up to date as well as reflect on all the milestones that we’ve met in 2024. Semester 1 O-Day planning is already underway, with both team resources and technical members involved, and many ideas being discussed to help the team reach a wide audience and connect with prospective new members. Our Team Website was updated to support mobile functionality and include recent and accurate information on our Project and Join pages.

The recruitment and onboarding processes are set to meet some new changes in 2025, with a recruitment plan being drafted and some new onboarding videos being created. Recruits will have more clarity regarding the team’s structure and operation, and their own resources to access when beginning their first projects or their department’s initiation tasks.

Events and Team Building

PAST presented to the Space Science and Technology Centre (SSTC) in early December, where our members across different divisions represented the team and showcased their projects. The presentation allowed us to highlight our members’ achievements and the exciting directions that we envision for our future projects.

A photo of our members after the SSTC presentation, (Left to Right) Indi, Raph, Annabelle, Sam, Felix, Damon.

We also held our final General Meeting for 2024 on 10 December, where significant constitution amendments, such as the introduction of the Steering Team and the renaming of our divisions to departments, were proposed to the team and later approved by a majority vote. Leadership nominations will be open in January to fill these new positions, including two new Mission Manager and Systems Engineering lead roles. Congratulations to our October and November members of the month, Rayaan and Annabelle, for their outstanding work in Avionics and HR, respectively.

A photo of our members at the 4th General Meeting in December 2024.

Our first General Meeting for 2025 was held in mid-January, when leadership nominations were approved and new positions were filled. Congratulations to Madeleine, our first Mission Manager, and Sean, our first Systems Engineering lead, as well as all our department leads who will make up the Steering Team. The Steering Team members will be keeping projects on track, making business and marketing decisions to promote PAST’s success, and communicating to ensure projects are integrated to achieve our CubeSat’s mission. Following feedback from our technical department members, it was decided to postpone the first HAB launch to mid-2025 to allow enough time for all components to be completed to their highest standard, and allow for preparation and collaboration with stakeholders.

A photo of the participating members at our January 2025 General Meeting.

Looking Ahead

O-Week is coming on the 17th-21st of February, and PAST will have a stall at both O-Day (19th) and the Science and Engineering Expo (20th). Come and visit us to learn more about the team, say hi to our members or express your interest in joining! We hope to meet many new faces there; more info to come

An Image taken from the Science and Engineering Expo 2024, Semester 2.