Space Puffin (MO-4) Mission
Taking Scotland's National Drink to Space
Overview
The University of Glasgow (UofG), supported by Glasgow University Orbit (GUO), is developing its own payload for the MicroOrbiter 4 (MO-4) mission. MO-4 is a collaborative 2U CubeSat project involving UofG, the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) in Japan, and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Taiwan.
Kyutech leads the MO-4 mission overall designing and building the satellite bus, developing their own onboard mission payload, and operating the spacecraft once launched. Under the leadership of Dr. Gilles Bailet, UofG has been entrusted with designing the payload occupying 1U of the satellite, a space shared with NCKU. UofG Master's students and dedicated members of GUO are coordinating the design effort across four distinct payload units, turning ideas generated by GUO's wider membership into a flight-ready package that carries a unique slice of Scottish culture into orbit.
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Glasgow engineering students Micah Chapman, Muhammad Taha Malik, Liam Alkire and Milo Godwin; Dr Gilles Bailet of the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering and Geoff Nisbet of Allen Associates; Glasgow engineering student Peter Moody, Glengoyne Distillery warehouse team leader Gregg Black, and Glasgow engineering student Yuki Suter are pictured at Glengoyne Distillery, Dumgoyne.
Four Payloads, One Mission
Whisky Experimental Unit: A sealed and pressurized enclosure that safeguards the whisky experiments during the mission.
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Whisky Fermentation Unit (WFU): Investigates whether the alcoholic fermentation process can be used to produce ethanol in orbit. It establishes the foundations for the in-situ manufacturing in future space stations and long duration missions while celebrating Scotland's whisky heritage along the way.
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Whisky Maturation Unit (WMU): Acts as an independent experiment to evaluate the whisky maturation process and how it performs in microgravity, forging a fitting link between Scottish and Japanese whisky traditions.
PCB-Integrated Reaction Wheel (IRW): Explores a novel, miniaturised approach to spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control Systems (ADCS) by integrating a reaction wheel's motor directly into a printed circuit board. Alongside the wheel, the unit incorporates built-in magnetorquers and a magnetometer, serving as a highly integrated, lightweight attitude determination and control actuator suite.
Deployable Camera Unit (DCU): Integrates a deployable optical imaging system onto the satellite, utilizing a mechanical deployment mechanism that increases the field of view, capture imagery, and serve as a versatile platform for testing onboard image-processing capabilities.
Payload Computer Unit (PCU): Functions as the mission's dedicated payload computer unit, managing data architectures, processing, and storing information from all payloads for downlink to the ground station while giving GUO's next-generation PQ60 pocketqube-architecture computer its first flight heritage.
Why It Matters
Beyond the novelty of space whisky, this mission demonstrates profound engineering value. In-space chemical production, miniaturized attitude control hardware, and high-performance onboard data processing are all technologies with applications far footprinting a single CubeSat. The fermentation study directly informs the future of space biomanufacturing such as producing critical medicines on long-duration missions. Furthermore, rather than launching highly flammable finished ethanol into space, the WFU tests if it can be safely manufactured in orbit.
Crucially, the project provides invaluable flight heritage to the UofG and GUO with hands-on experience and real-world satellite development knowledge while strengthening international aerospace collaboration. This partnership honors a profound historic link: over a century ago, Masataka Taketsuru studied organic chemistry at the University of Glasgow and apprenticed at Scottish distilleries before returning home to become the founding "Father of Japanese Whisky".
The Road Ahead
The University of Glasgow's Master's students are currently working toward their Preliminary Design Review (PDR), focusing on integrating all four sub-units within strict mass, power, and safety envelopes. As part of this collaborative effort, seven Master's students, including GUO members, are currently in Japan to partner directly with students at Kyutech and NCKU to advance the payload design and prepare it for final integration.
