Collegiate Space Competition 2024

Background

There is a consensus among environmental scientists that our climate is changing, with adverse effects on ocean health, air quality, and rising average global temperatures. With the advent of widely available space technology, however, we’re making more sense of our changing world and climate. Constellations of smallsats can measure, monitor, and map the characteristics of the Earth’s environment for a wide range of benefits. Space technology helps to measure water quality and air pollution and assess post-event damage and emergency response planning. Real-time mapping of soil and crops allows farmers to understand crop status, predict yields, plan for harvest, and optimize treatments, which can help boost local industries in regions that are heavily dependent on climate patterns and agriculture. 

Satellite-based carbon observations are especially valuable to bridging information gaps and guiding policies to drive lower carbon emissions. In particular, smallsat missions that monitor our changing climate by observing the health of our soils and oceans, which can capture atmospheric carbon and alleviate some of the more catastrophic climate change predictions. Healthy soil can extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it underground. By preventing carbon from entering the atmosphere, soil can help to decelerate the pace of global warming. Oceans play a critical role in regulating climate change, too. Given that over 70% of our planet’s surface is covered by oceans, satellite technology is an excellent way to measure oceanic carbon across such a vast area.

Propose a realistic solution employing small satellite technology or space data to help measure either moisture/nitrogen in healthy soil OR oceanic carbon cycles/health of oceans. Review existing approaches and gaps to describe how your unique approach uses smallsat technology to solve the problem in a new way. Discuss your scale-up strategy, and policy contexts and implications of your design approach. For your submission, please focus on one area – land or sea – to discuss.

A full solution to this prompt must contain the following sections. There is a limit of 15 pages double spaced not including Appendix or graphics.

• Problem Statement and Background: Demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues surrounding the challenge. Why does the problem exist, and what factors make it worse? When do we reach a tipping point? Establish an incentive for solving the problem and set the scene for the gap(s) that you ultimately solve with your design approach.
• Solutions (Literature) Review: What space-based solutions or studies currently exist (private side or active government programs) to deorbit or remove orbital debris? What parties (civil, commercial, military space…) are involved to help solve the problem? Include a discussion of primary sources and their influence on your final design.
• Approach to Design Challenge: How might small satellite technology be employed in new ways to help assess moisture and nitrogen for healthier soil, measure oceanic carbon cycles and assess the health of oceans and sea wildlife? Supply a thorough description of the team’s work, including a description of the technical systems engineering or policy approaches as appropriate to solving the problem. How is your solution unique or different from existing technologies? What gap does it solve, how can this help mitigate the threat, and at what scale? Describe how the technical aspects of the Design Challenge are addressed through models, policy, or programming excerpts, etc. as appropriate to provide evidence of a thorough design process. 
• Leveraging the Small Sat Community: Throughout the research process, you will find countless examples of companies working together across industry and government to investigate new approaches. Your team should likewise engage with industry, and identify contacts and interactions required to implement your solution. Provide a description of interactions with government, academia, and industry smallsat experts and contacts as part of the design process. How much of your solution utilizes commercial off the shelf smallsat technology to address this concern? Are there any member companies of the SmallSat Alliance that could work together to advance your idea? Please reach out to SSA/CSC reps to be connected to specific member companies within the Alliance, should their goals align with your solution.
• Scale-Up Strategy: What is the commercial potential for your approach to the problem? What steps would you need to bring the commoditized design to the product or implementation state? This section should provide a realistic approach to scaling your solution across government and commercial customers alike and include projected cost/benefit analysis, emphasizing affordability and utility.
• Policy Contexts:
  • During your research or conversations with industry, do specific goals or obstacles related to policy come up? If so, describe in what context.
  • Are there national or international policies that need to change in order to promote your technical solution?
  • Every local government/state has a different need (based on their climate, soil type, etc.). What is the best way to address the unique space data needs of different regions and governments? How can state and local governments capitalize and promote this growing industry to provide sorely needed insight into environmental changes within their borders?
• Implications of Design Approach: Describe the projected impacts of the team’s design and emphasize findings with a thorough discussion of how the solution meets the goals of the Small Sat Alliance and its member companies.