ESA plans student-built moon orbiter

PARIS, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says it has selected a British company to manage development of the first European student-built moon orbiter.

The contract was awarded to Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd for the European Student Moon Orbiter, which is expected to be launched as a secondary payload during 2013 or 2014. The mission involves delivering a spacecraft to lunar orbit, followed by 6 months of operations that include mapping the lunar surface.

"Unlike a typical space project, each spacecraft subsystem, payload and ground segment element is being designed, built and operated by groups of university students based in ESA member states or cooperating states," the space agency said in a statement. "As with the previous satellites sponsored by the ESA Education Office, the objective … is to prepare the next generation of European engineers and scientists by providing valuable hands-on experience with a real and demanding space project."

Officials said more than 200 university students from various countries and institutions have already participated in early phases of the project.