THE University of Bradford is aiming to launch a mini-satellite into space by 2023.

Students enrolling on the university's new Renduchintala Centre for Space AI MSc Satellite Systems Engineering programme - due to start in September 2022 - could benefit from £10,000-a-year scholarships and work with industry experts, including Airbus.

The centre’s director has also set out ambitious plans to develop and launch a miniature satellite, known as a pocket cube, into space, possibly by 2023.

The palm-sized devices, no bigger than a Rubik’s Cube, contain an array of instruments, and because of their size are much cheaper to launch than larger satellites.

Prof Fun Hu, programme leader and director of the Bradford-Renduchintala Centre for Space AI, is a former satellite systems engineer.

She said it is important for Bradford - and the UK - to be at the forefront of space research.

“The Bradford-Renduchintala Centre for Space AI will create a new centre of expertise in an area of research which is going to become increasingly important in the coming years, especially now the UK has left the EU and therefore has lost access to several EU satellite navigation programmes, including Galileo and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).

“There is an expectation the Government will invest heavily in the space sector over the next five to ten years to establish the UK as a global space leader.

“It is important to keep up with technological advances and to have a niche area in which Bradford can have expertise.

“One of our modules is to do with using AI to design satellites, which again is something that will become the norm in the near future.”

Prof Hu added she has already been in touch with a launch company with a view to putting a Bradford-designed pocket cube satellite payload into space by 2023.

She added: “It is something we are keen to do, and we have already been in touch with a launch company about the possibility.”

MSc students who sign up to the course can apply for a £10,000 scholarship, which could include paid work experience.

To prepare for the course, the university is also advertising for a number of roles, including a Professor of Space Engineering.

The Bradford-Renduchintala Centre for Space AI has been made possible thanks to a multi-million pound donation from Bradford alumni Dr Venkata ‘Murthy’ Renduchintala Murthy, who studied at the university from 1983 to 1991.