Born in 2008 from the initiative of Aerospace Engineering students and Professors, the CubeSat PoliTO Team has immediately showed excellent skills in mission design and construction of small satellites.
The team is involved in all phases of a space mission, from phase-0 to launch. From the design of a single on-board computer and payload, to the structural design, assembly and integration of the system.
The first satellite E-ST@R was launched as part of the VEGA-1 maiden flight in june 2008. It was also the first italian cubesat to be launched in space. The end of mission was declared in December 2012 as the operations have been affected by unexpected tumbling of the satellite.
The second satellite, E-ST@R-2 was launched in april 2016 as part of ESA's Fly Your Satellite programme. More than 30 students worked on the satellite. The satellite was equiped with a unique active attitude and determination control system consisting of magnetic actuators.
After 8 years of service, the satellite re-entered the atmosphere on May 2024.
Nowadays the team is working on their very own ground station, capable of communicating in VHF, UHF and S-Band with satellites in LEO and on the next gen of Cubesat Team's Cubesat: a 3U satellite for earth observation.