A new tool to calculate the orientation of a satellite with respect to the Earth, developed by EPFL students, will be on board a European Space Agency rocket scheduled to launch in March 2012. This will be an opportunity to test the tool in ideal microgravity conditions. An elegant invention, developed by a group of ten EPFL students, will take flight next March on a rocket launched in Sweden. The product of more than a year's work, it was accepted by the European Space Agency (ESA) after a lengthy selection process. The project offers a new method to calculate the orientation of a satellite with respect to the Earth. This is a very important function, because whether the goal is tele or taking pictures, satellites need to be pointed precisely towards Earth to work optimally. The tool - called the Gravity Gradient Earth Sensor - measures the gradient of gravitational forces, in other words, the rate at which gravity decreases as you go further away from the center of the Earth.
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