The launch was originally scheduled for this year, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the Students Space Association of the university’s Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering successfully put the first Polish satellite, PW-Sat, into orbit in 2012. This feat was followed in 2018 by the launch of PW-Sat2.

Now PW-Sat3, a cube satellite, is intended to continue the work of its two predecessors. Its purpose is to test the drive that enables maneuvers within orbit and solutions for avoiding space junk.

“The goal of our mission is to test the Warm Gas drive, which will allow us to deorbit the satellite,” team member Jakub Murawski said. “The satellite control algorithm prepared by our team is also very important. Thanks to it, we will be able to perform several maneuvers in orbit, [and] change it, which will help us avoid space debris, among other things.”

PW-Sat3 will be larger than the previous two nanosatellites and will feature a camera for imaging Earth and a horizon sensor making it possible to determine the satellite’s position. It will also have a radio capability.

“As in the case of PW-Sat2, we want our satellite to make a contribution to the development of the amateur radio community around the world,” Murawski said. “We plan to make data from the transponder and/or the possibility of downloading additional data publicly available.”