Space technology
The space technology department of the Tartu Observatory is engaged in the design, construction, and testing of various innovative devices. The devices we are developing have applications in space and on earth. We will test the technology onboard orbiting nanosatellites in cooperation with the European Space Agency, several universities, and research institutes.
Senior researcher Mihkel Pajusalu leads the research area. You can find the contacts of the researchers here.
Visit also the page of TOSpEx - Tartu Observatory Space Exploration Group.
Laboratory services
Take a look at our laboratory services.
ESTCube
ESTCube is an Estonian satellite organisation composed of space enthusiasts and students, who wish to take Estonian space tech onto the world stage. The main pursuit of the project is to develop, build and launch scientific nanosatellite missions. In addition to technical challenges, we aim to promote and popularise science in schools and the public.
ESTCube-1 was the first Estonian mission to develop the space technology competence and demonstrate the electric solar wind sail. Launched on May 7, 2013 on-board the Vega rocket, the ESTCube-1 lifetime spanned two years of experiments, troubleshooting and improvement of on-board systems.
ESTCube-2 is a 3-unit CubeSat developed by volunteer students mainly from the University of Tartu with the supervision and laboratories provided by Tartu Observatory. A three-unit satellite consists of three 10 x 10 x 10 cm cubes each weighing up to 1.33 kg, so-called “units”. That means our small satellite will be 30 cm long and can weigh up to 4 kg.
The mission of ESTCube-2 serves a multitude of different purposes and aims to solve multiple high-ranking problems we face as space nations. On board ESTCube-2 there is a novel and untested science experiment, the electric solar wind sail, or E-sail, which our team hopes to be the first in the world to deploy and demonstrate.