SOURCE, a joint CubeSat project between the student small satellite group KSat e.V. and the Institute of Space Systems (IRS) at the University of Stuttgart, received the Hans von Muldau Team Award at the 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Sydney. This award honours outstanding student team achievements in the field of space technology.
From more than 70 international entries, the SOURCE team impressed with its contribution to autonomous error detection and correction on board a CubeSat. Twelve finalist teams from around the world presented their projects to over 7,000 delegates from 99 countries.
On behalf of the SOURCE team, Mario Spahr, a master's student in aerospace engineering at the University of Stuttgart, presented the topic ‘Implementation and Verification of an Autonomous Failure Detection and Recovery System on the CubeSat SOURCE’ during an IAC session and then accepted the Hans von Muldau Team Award. ‘We demonstrated how SOURCE is able to independently detect and rectify system failures in orbit using intelligent software – completely independently of ground contact,’ explains Spahr. ‘This capability significantly increases the reliability and service life of the satellite and marks an important step towards autonomous space systems.’
SOURCE stands for Stuttgart Operated University Research Cubesat for Evaluation and Education and is a CubeSat that is being developed and built entirely by students at the University of Stuttgart. As part of the project, students from all disciplines can gain practical experience in satellite development, systems engineering and mission operations during an internship in CubeSat technology. While the students are largely responsible for the technical development and organisation themselves, they are supported by PhD students and researchers from the IRS.
The SOURCE project is also supported by the University of Stuttgart's School for Talents and the ESA programme Fly Your Satellite!. The satellite is scheduled to launch in 2026. This year's IAC also saw the presentation of the successor SOURCE 2, which will continue the successful training of young aerospace engineers in Baden-Württemberg.
Conference Contribution: Implementation and Verification of an Autonomous Failure Detection and Recovery System on the CubeSat SOURCE, ResearchGate, October 2025
Links regarding the News:
- SOURCE-Projektseite von KSat
- SOURCE-Projektseite vom IRS
- KSat e.V. – Studentische Kleinsatellitengruppe der Universität Stuttgart
Technical contact:
- Mario Spahr (KSat e.V.) (spahr@ksat-stuttgart.de)
- Daniel Galla (IRS) projekt coordinator SOURCE (galla@irs.uni-stuttgart.de)
Aerospace research at the University of Stuttgart
Stuttgart's aerospace industry is a unique interdisciplinary think tank for key technologies in space and on Earth. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart combine expertise in the fields of climate and energy research, communication technology, propulsion technology and AI-based flying. A central focus is the research of sustainable technological solutions that aim to minimize the ecological impact of aerospace. Research is conducted on an interdisciplinary basis and in close dialogue with regional and international partners from science and industry, for example within the framework of the ATLAS (SFB 1667) and SynTrac (SFB-TRR 364) collaborative research centers. As a partner of THE Aerospace LÄND, the University of Stuttgart contributes to the implementation of Baden-Württemberg's state strategy to make aerospace sustainable, digital and cooperative by 2050. The university offers its students a sound engineering and application-oriented education. In promoting young talent, it cooperates with the ‘Zukunftsoffensive Luft- und Raumfahrt-Nachwuchs’ (Future Offensive for Young Aerospace Talent), an initiative of the state of Baden-Württemberg that is committed to strengthening the promotion of young talent in the STEM subjects.
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