SAPPHIRE Mission Statement

Mission Level

The Sapphire project mission consists of three major goals: Development of the SSDL Laboratory; Education and Research; and the specific Sapphire satellite payload objectives.

Note that starting from the top level, Squirt satellite projects are NOT like "normal" industry satellites - the first two requirements are somewhat unique to SSDL, and greatly impact the design process!

Laboratory Development

Sapphire is the first of the SSDL Squirt program; thus the team is responsible for establishing the processes and facilities that other Squirts will follow (with modifications and improvements, of course). Specifically, we are to:
  1. Identify, acquire, and maintain design, fabrication and testing equipment.
  2. Develop contacts and recruit mentors from industry.
  3. Identify sources for parts and facilities for long-term Squirt usage.
  4. Develop the satellite-concept-to-orbit-operations process for the Squirt program.

Education

SSDL is chartered to pursue world-class research and education in all aspects of spacecraft design, fabrication, and operations. These goals are supported and furthered in a number of ways within the laboratory. Specific to the Squirt program:
  1. Train students in the practices and importance of systems engineering.
  2. Train students in every aspect of a satellite project: Design, Modeling, Fabrication, Testing, Launch, and Operations.
  3. Encourage student research.

Sapphire Payloads

Sapphire has three payloads; the primary is our paying customer and as such has the highest operational priority. The other two are student interests. There are some tertiary "payloads" which have to do with student research and analysis projects - these deal more with interpreted data and spacecraft operations. (These elements are explained in much greater detail in our mission operations guide.)