“If you think it’s tough tracking all of your assets just on earth…”

Noah Luogameno – Project Manager

Teachers In Space

In the vast and expanding realm of space exploration, Teachers in Space (TIS), a dynamic non-profit organisation, stands out as a driving force in cultivating STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) interest among students and educators. How do they do it? By creating exciting and accessible projects such as their recent CubeSat (Cube Satellite) space exploration project. Their CubeSat project, involving tracking the journeys and critical information of their student designed CubeSats, is powered by itemit’s innovative asset tracking solution.

In order to achieve their ultimate mission of supporting the Space Economy, TIS use itemit to boost traceability of their projects and add value to the experience of teachers and students alike. The use of itemit in TIS’s mission exemplifies how asset tracking technology can elevate scientific endeavours to new heights.

TIS offers teachers extraordinary space experiences; they are on a mission to regularly fly teachers into space and return them to their classrooms where they can energise their students! Inspired by NASA’s Teacher in Space program, TIS provides teachers with astronaut training and real space experiences combined with unique science projects to be deployed in their classrooms and inspire the next generation. The teachers and students who participate in TIS’s projects have completed numerous high-altitude balloon missions, helped test the first multipurpose commercial spacesuit and flown experimental payloads on gliders in the US and Argentina – the itemit tracked Cubesats!

Image courtesy of Karin Paquin on Zero Gravity Corporation via tis.org

Undertaking global collaborative projects, such as CubeSat missions, comes with unique challenges. TIS faces the complexities of managing numerous CubeSats, each carrying distinct scientific experiments, as they traverse the globe—from inception in classrooms to launch into the cosmos.

• CubeSat Profile Tracking: TIS manages a fleet of CubeSats, each tailored for specific experiments. The need to easily track and catalog the profiles and locations of these diverse assets is critical.
• Real-time Status Monitoring: The challenge intensifies when dealing with miniature satellites. TIS must stay informed about the current status of these tiny orbiters as they journey worldwide, promptly addressing any issues that may arise before they are blasted into Space!
• Global Journey Understanding: TIS’s mission involves understanding the trajectory of CubeSats across borders and through various stages, ensuring the project aligns with plans and identifying any delays or issues.
• Data Representation for Stakeholders: To achieve their ultimate mission of supporting the space economy, TIS requires a seamless method to report comprehensive project data to all stakeholders.

Image of Cubesats courtesy of tis.org

TIS has partnered with itemit for several years, with their CubeSat project being just one of the successful collaborations. TIS love using itemit because they know they can leverage our customisable platform to overcome challenges, bidding farewell to cumbersome spreadsheets and labor-intensive tracking.

• Universal Collaboration: itemit provides each participant, from teachers to technicians, with a dedicated login. This ensures a unified platform and a single source of truth, fostering collaboration and streamlining project contributions.
• QR Codes – The Magic Link: Robust Anodised Aluminium itemit QR codes are affixed to each CubeSat, serving as a gateway to a wealth of information. Scanning reveals real-time GPS locations, full profiles, and allows for quick updates.
• Mobile Accessibility: With itemit’s user-friendly mobile app, participants access the centralised hub on the go, ensuring seamless collaboration and data accessibility, even offline.
• Comprehensive Asset Profiles: Each CubeSat possesses a detailed asset profile within itemit, including photos, documents, and information properties. This ensures the satellites are space-ready and any issues are promptly addressed. This ensures each CubeSat is working as intended at the time of being blasted into Space!
• Efficient Organisation with Collections: TIS utilises itemit’s Collections to categorise CubeSats by origin and education centre, streamlining reporting and tailored updates for stakeholders.
• Global Journey Tracking: The itemit global map provides real-time updates on CubeSat locations, enabling TIS to not only locate their CubeSats at all times, but visually represent each satellite’s journey and share this dynamic data with stakeholders.

Check out Noah Luogameno, Project Manager at TIS, discussing how itemit has propelled TIS’s traceability in our Case Study video below. 

In essence, itemit empowers TIS to transcend manual tracking, saving valuable time and mitigating potential errors. All activities related to CubeSats are seamlessly automated, guaranteeing reliability. Crucially, up-to-date data is readily accessible to students and teachers, fostering STEM enthusiasm and ensuring TIS’s mission of inspiring the next generation in the cosmos remains vibrant and impactful.

With itemit as their cosmic companion, TIS propels the future of space exploration, one CubeSat at a time. 

Here at itemit we love understanding how our customers are using itemit to achieve their own inspiring missions – the more unusual, the better! If you’ve got an idea of how you might be able to use itemit and want to run some questions by our experienced team members, drop us an email to team@itemit.com – we look forward to hearing from you and achieving great things together!