Some members of the team were assembled for a meeting Friday evening, when project manager Ferdinand Fürstenau got an email titled “RXBX Selection Results 2017”. He interrupted the discussion saying, “So guys, I just got an email from DLR.” All were aware what this meant, as today was the day selection results were to be announced. Ferdinand began to read the email, “We are delighted to inform you..” He got no farther before his voice was drowned out with cheers and applause. TUPEX-6 was successful at the selection workshop, and selected to participate in the project cycle 11 of the REXUS/BEXUS program. The experiment will tentatively launch in March 2019 onboard REXUS 26. The meeting was wrapped up shortly after, and the team headed to the campus cafe for a celebratory beer.
Next week the team will undergo a mid-term review before the project advisor, Sebastian Grau, research assistants and other experts within the department. Each subsystem team will present the progress of their workpackage before heading into the Christmas break.
ESA’s official annoucement can be read here.