The UNISAT program for space education, Keynote Paper

UNISAT is a program established at Universita di Roma "La Sapienza", Scuola di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, in which members of the Academic staff, PhD candidates, graduated and undergraduate students work together to design and manufacture an e4ucational microsatellite. The whole proj ect has been thought as a unique occasion for lecturers to show an actual space system being designed and integrated in the academic environment and for students to develop real world proj ects, "playing and learning" on specific subsystems of the microsatellite. Furthermore a cooperation has been started with a tearn of Italian Universities to exchange information and experience about microsatellite technology. Contacts have been established also with Research Centers and Private Companies involved in space activity. The first satellite built in the framework of the UNISAT program was successfully launched on September 26, 2000. The second one, UNISAT-2, is scheduled for launch within 2002. Near future activity includes developing and launching of a cluster of four "one liter" nanosatellites. A general overview of the UNISAT spacecrafi bus and technological experiments is given and the experience gained described, focussing on the educational aspects and achievements of' the program.