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UNB teacher Brent Petersen (left) and students work on Violet, New Brunswick's first satellite to travel into space.

UNB teacher Brent Petersen (left) and students work on Violet, New Brunswick’s first satellite to travel into space.Photo: Courtesy: University of New Brunswick

Posted on December 7, 2023

Engineering students in New Brunswick have been working on building a satellite for five years. The violet satellite will be sent into space in March 2024 and should be in orbit as early as May.

Since 2018, students from the University of Moncton, New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) and the University of New Brunswick (UNB) have taken turns contributing to various elements of the fabrication of this satellite.

The UNB team with the Violet satellite during tests at the Canadian Space Agency in Montreal.

The UNB team with the Violet satellite during tests at the Canadian Space Agency in Montreal.

Courtesy: Canadian Space Agency

The purple satellite, named after the province’s pink emblem, will measure weather in space and the atmosphere.

Journalist Ossian Doucet discussed the project with student Noah Lydon and UNB electrical and computer engineering professor Brent Petersen.

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