Hands-on education through nano-satellites development: Past, current and future projects at sapienza S5Lab

The Sapienza Space Systems and Space Surveillance Laboratory (S5Lab) at Sapienza University of Rome is in the recent years carrying out a multiplicity of University nano-satellite projects, with the design, development, launch and operations of their CubeSats. The development of a satellite is a key-importance chance for University students to gain soft skills, practical knowledge and to follow a complete development cycle of a spaceborne object. Additionally, the development of a cycle with actual scientific objectives besides the educational aim addressed at students allow the involved participants to maximize their educational return by becoming mission specialists on specific scientific branches, when working on all the satellite subsystems. The paper describes the five current and past satellite projects (URSA MAIOR, 1KUNS-PF, LEDSAT, GREENCUBE, WildTrackCube-SIMBA). Every project is briefly described together with the scientific aim of the CubeSat and the main lessons learned related to the project.