The story of 20 girls who built a satellite and launched it.

On May 6th, 2023 the HALSAT team of girls from Haileybury Almaty launched our first nano-satellite! Let’s see how it went, discover the details of the creation process and evaluate the results. 

Albina Turakpayeva is the founder of this project in Haileybury. She went through the course created by UNICEF in partnership with Al-Farabi University. The project was called UNISAT and helped many girls launch their dreams and develop in the STEM field. The purpose of this project was to encourage young ladies to express themselves in the STEM field, where women were disincentivized from joining for many years before. Albina brought this concept to Mr Steven Stockermans and HALSAT was born. 

On January 11th 2023, they gathered all the girls from years 10 and upwards who wanted to take part and then they partnered with Al-Farabi University and Professor Amirkhan, who supported this project from start to end along with his team. My friends and I were immediately interested, and our hopes for this project were most certainly brought to life. 

First, we had to go through the online course. Every bit of it was filled with content and new information about the structure of the satellite, the 3D printing, the coding behind it and even the launch. At the end of each unit we had to take a questionnaire to test our knowledge, which I found helpful as it made it easier to recall this information later. The course was our first step, especially with the fact that some of our students who did not speak Russian could not understand it. But they sought help from peers, found subtitles and showed genuine dedication, finishing the course as well as expected.

Right after we finished the course, our team visited Al-Farabi University for the first time and met with Professor Amirkhan. They showed us the satellites that have been assembled and

launched before, as well as the 3D printers we would use to print the corpus of the satellite. This was when we really saw the whole project come to life, everyone was full of bewilderment and joy. We were also presented with our plan for the next month. 

It was truly impressive how so many people came to the university two times a week to spend hours there, working and learning. In the first lesson, we learned how to 3D model the frames of the satellite digitally. It wasn’t an easy task, but we all took the time to help each other and every single girl successfully modeled a frame. The modeled frames then were printed out on the 3D printers. The following week we practiced assembling the component parts of the core together digitally. After gaining some experience with the modeling program, it became smoother and less complicated to work with. 

Now onto the clean room! The Clean Room is a special room free from dust and other contaminants, used mainly for the manufacture of electronic components. This is to make sure that the items being produced are kept totally clean and free from any pollutants or debris that could impact upon performance. Everyone had to wear caps, gloves, shoes and clothes covers.  “I recall that our ‘outfits’ made us look like delivery nurses!”- one student jokingly added, making this step a popular photo opportunity. We were given a sheet with the order and instructions of assembly, and all the components were organized on the table. We assembled all the pieces of the satellite, including the

power and communication modules, data-handling system and the payload. This was an extremely meticulous job, to me it felt almost

like creating jewelry and working with high-value stones.

Then we reached the process of soldering, which also required immense accuracy and precision. Soldering is a process used to join two metal surfaces by melting solder. Solder is a metal alloy usually made of tin and lead which is melted using a hot iron. The iron is heated to temperatures above 300°C which then cools and solidifies, creating a strong and durable joint. We created little droplets of solder to glue the necessary "through-hole" components whose leads are inserted into holes in PCBs and soldered to a PCB trace around the hole. Something I have to add is, I was impressed and delighted with all the safety measures that were taken in order to ensure that we don’t damage our nano-satellite or ourselves. 

The week after that, we finally tested our nice and ready nano-satellite! We were testing the detachment system specifically. To do this, we used a tripod to lift the nano-satellite 50 meters above the ground and walked with it around the campus of Al-Farabi University to collect some data. It was also important to keep it balanced, so that no inside components are damaged. 

May 6th: The Launch. Our team, Mr Stockermans and other teachers, Professor Amirkhan and his team all drove a long way towards the steppe. It was important that the launch happened far away from any settlements, so that our nano-satellite doesn’t get shot down or interfered with. Everyone had butterflies in their stomachs — it was finally happening! Before the launch, we had to wrap the nano-satellite in an insulating layer so that the

systems and payload do not break due to the low temperatures at high altitude. We also had to blow up the enormous balloon attached to the parachute that was needed for the nano-satellite fly. Some of our girls decided to jokingly call it “dumpling” due to its shape and coloring. The launch had to be postponed for some time due to strong wind, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time. We all brought tons of food, we played with Mr Stockermans’ and Mr Liversidge’s dogs, listened to music and took lots of pictures and videos. Everyone got to sign the parachute with their wishes for our “HALSAT baby”. By the way, yes, we gave it that nickname. When we finally launched it, people were clapping, laughing and screaming from excitement. All the cameras were turned to our HALSAT baby. It was very photogenic. 

It was picked up safely later, after gradually falling down. We then all took part in analyzing the data we obtained. The purpose of this project was to analyze the air pollution levels in Almaty Oblast, Kazakhstan. The satellite collected data on PM2.5 and PM10 particles. Particles of any substance that are less than 10 or 2.5 micrometers diameter. Particles in this size range make up a large proportion of dust that can be drawn deep into the lungs. Larger particles tend to be trapped in the nose, mouth or throat. Therefore, this was a crucial mission for us, as our city is known for its air pollution. In the end, I personally feel like we all got a chance to be a part of something this large-scale and we all learned something new and important. I would like to say thank you to Albina, Mr Stockermans, and the Al-Farabi University team for making this real. 

If you are interested in joining HALSAT, or have any questions about the project, do not hesitate to contact Mr.Stockermans, Sara Stockermans, Lauren Coetee or anyone else on the team!

Written by Amina Meirkhan,

Edited by Lauren Coetzee

Published January 2024