Launched in June 2019 at the Paris Air Show, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Academic Space Center is entering its operational phase. The Nouvelle-Aquitaine Academic Space Center (NAASC) has just secured financial support from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, and its first projects are now ready to take shape.
A new milestone has just been reached in the launch of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine University Space Center. In early September, the NAASC obtained financial support from the Region, which recognizes the value of the initiative and its ability to promote regional space expertise in line with the other projects it supports (including the future Space Hub). The budget of €316,000 over three years will enable the GIS (scientific interest group) to get up and running and start its first projects. " This support is important, both symbolically and financially. It is recognition of the skills we have developed in the space sector. It will enable students in Nouvelle-Aquitaine to work on ambitious collaborative aerospace projects, closely aligned with industrial challenges , " says Catherine Goetz, director of NAASC.
A theme close to our hearts: access to space
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine Academic Space Center brings together five prestigious universities in the region: Arts et Métiers in Bordeaux-Talence, ENSEIRB-MATMECA – Bordeaux INP, ESTIA in Bidart in the Basque Country, ISAE-ENSMA in Poitiers-Futuroscope, and Sciences Po Bordeaux through its defense and aerospace chair. These partners share the same ambition: to provide training based on a comprehensive approach, working together to drive innovation and industrial performance in the field of space access, integrating its economic, strategic, and political dimensions.
The NAASC complements the existing landscape of national university space centers (USCs) by focusing on the theme of access to space. " This field covers both the civil and military aspects of space exploration, including launch vehicles and space transport, in line with the industrial, technical, and scientific positioning of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region," explains Catherine Goetz.
An experimental rocket and a nanosatellite in the works
Two major collaborative projects are already on the agenda and are being organized with great enthusiasm since the start of the school year:
A first experimental student rocket powered by storable "green" bi-liquids, with a demonstration flight planned for 2023.
The development of such an experimental rocket falls within the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region's expertise in the field of launch vehicles. Tests and partial qualification flights will take place each year. In addition to the technological aspects, it will also be important to understand the associated strategic issues, at a time when the national security discourse is promoting so-called "reactive" launches with smaller, possibly airborne launchers.
A first CubeSat-type student nanosatellite, bearing the colors of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, with an orbital launch planned for 2024.
The first two French CubeSats were built by École Polytechnique and École des Mines, and launched in 2017. Four other CubeSats have since been put into orbit by the CSUs in Montpellier, Toulouse, and the Paris Observatory, with support from CNES. The first student CubeSat bearing the colors of Nouvelle-Aquitaine is an original contribution to the drive to master space, enabling work on the orbital behavior of nanosatellites, among other things. It will be based on multiple collaborations, while promoting innovation.
About NAASC
The Nouvelle Aquitaine University Space Center is an association of higher education institutions in the region, brought together within a GIS (scientific interest group): Arts et métiers in Bordeaux-Talence, Bordeaux INP (via its Enseirb-Matmeca school), Estia,Isae-Ensma, and Sciences Po Bordeaux (via its defense and aerospace chair), whose ambition is to drive innovation and industrial performance in the space sector through training, by pooling and enriching skills, resources, and efforts, and by capitalizing on scientific, technological, and organizational developments.
