Manufacturing
The engineering model of the BLUEsat structure was in development during the year 2000. Manufacturing of the BLUEsat structure components took place at Machine shop in School of Mechanical as well as Electrical Engineering, UNSW and the Ultimo TAFE, Sydney.

Completed satellite components were examined by UNSW students. All the feedback and comments we have received from the machinists on the design of the engineering model were noted to implement modifications to the design and manufacturing process of the flight model.

The majority of the mechanical components have been completed. We are currently awaiting the arrival of our separation mechanism, which is due in early 2002. Part of our qualification tests were conducted at ADI's (Australian Defense Industry) facility in St. Marys, Sydney. More tests will be performed on the completed engineering model to verify the integrity of BLUEsat.

Deployment
The original AMSAT microsatellites used explosives to separate itself from the launcher. However, this method tends to create space junk. To eliminate this problem, we selected a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) setup to snap the connecting rod (which is manufactured to snap cleanly across a weak cross-section) that connects the satellite to the launcher. A compressed spring would then expand, ejecting the satellite into orbit. More information can be found on the Separation page.