Tag Archives: CubeSat

Jul 18 2013

Find out about the BIS Kicksat Sprite Satellite

KickSat 437 MHz Sprite Satellite

KickSat 437 MHz Sprite Satellite

Andrew Vaudin of the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) will be giving a presentation on the BIS Kicksat Sprite satellite to the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium on Sunday, July 21.

The event takes place on Saturday/Sunday July 20-21 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, UK and is open to all.

KickSat Sprite satellites enable individuals to have their own satellite orbiting in space for very low cost, typically £200 ($300). Andrew Vaudin’s presentation should start at 9:50 AM on Sunday and is understood to include a demonstration.

Thanks to volunteers from the British Amateur Television Club (BATC) this presentation and the 17 others will be streamed live to the internet to a global audience. See https://amsat-uk.org/2013/07/18/webcast-of-international-space-colloquium/

Information about KickSat can be found at:
http://www.bis-space.com/category/bis-projects
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zacinaction/kicksat-your-personal-spacecraft-in-space

16 year-old UK student to work on KickSat Sprite
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/04/23/uk-student-to-work-on-kicksat/

The KickSat Sprites from both the BIS and London Hackspace are planned to launch on the SpaceX Falcon 9 ELaNa 5 / CRS 3 mission early in 2014.

A sample issue of the AMSAT-UK newsletter OSCAR News can be downloaded here.

Jul 18 2013

UKube-1 with Amateur Radio Transponder may launch October

Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit

Artists impression of UKube-1 in orbit – Credit Clyde Space

BBC News is reporting that the UK Space Agency’s first CubeSat UKube-1, being built by Clyde Space in Glasgow, may launch in late October 2013.

Clyde Space Senior Systems Engineer Steve Greenland will be giving a presentation on UKube-1 to the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium which takes place July 20-21 at the Holiday Inn, Guildford, GU2 7XZ, UK.

The Colloquium is open to all but for those unable to attend the event all 18 presentations including UKube-1 will be web streamed live on the BATC site at http://batc.tv/ch_live.php?ch=3

Flight and Engineering Models of FUNcube-1 with FUNcube-2 boards

Flight and Engineering Models of FUNcube-1 with FUNcube-2 boards

UKube-1 will carry a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards which will provide:
• 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.915 MHz
• Linear transponder downlink 145.930-145.950 MHz for SSB/CW communications
• Linear transponder uplink 435.080-435.060 MHz

In addition UKube-1 also carries:
• ISIS 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.840 MHz
• UKSEDS myPocketQub 442 on 437.425-437.525 MHz with 11 mW output using spread spectrum
• 1 watt transmitter on 2401.0 MHz from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town, for high data rate mission data downlinking using up to 1 Mbps QPSK or OQPSK modulation

Gunter’s Space Page lists UKube-1 as manifested on a Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M rocket to be launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

FUNcube-1 flight model - Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

FUNcube-1 flight model – Image credit Wouter Weggelaar PA3WEG

If the launch does go ahead as planned in late October then the FUNcube-2 boards will be in orbit before the FUNcube-1 satellite which may launch in November, 2013 on a Dnepr rocket from Dombarovsky near Yasny.

FUNcube-1 will be using these frequencies:
• 1200 bps BPSK telemetry beacon on 145.935 MHz
• Linear transponder downlink 145.950-145.970 MHz for SSB/CW communications
• Linear transponder uplink 435.150-435.130 MHz

There will be a presentation on FUNcube-1 at the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium which will be streamed live to the web. The presentation schedule is here.

Read the BBC News story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-23319103

Watch UK Space Agency video – UKube-1 CubeSat payload animation

On Friday, October 19, 2012 after some final testing and characterisation checks completed at the facilities of ISIS BV in Delft, AMSAT-UK handed over the set of three PCBs that form the FUNcube-2 subsystem on the UKube-1 spacecraft to Clyde Space Ltd in Glasgow. Clyde Space are leading the development and assembly of this CubeSat project for the UK Space Agency.

Steve Greenland of Clyde Space receives the AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards that will be incorporated into UKube-1

Steve Greenland of Clyde Space receives the AMSAT-UK FUNcube-2 boards that will be incorporated into UKube-1

The PCBs were taken to Glasgow in a Pelicase by Graham Shirville G3VZV who handed them to Steve Greenland Senior Systems Engineer at Clyde Space.

The three PCB’s comprise:
• CCT Board – Command, control and telemetry, interfaces via I2C with the antenna deployment system and the main OBC (On-Board Computer).
• RF Board – Command receiver, telemetry transmitter and linear transponder of the FUNcube satellite educational payload also includes telemetry sensors.
• PA Board – 400 mW VHF amplifier and sensors.

The telemetry transmitter provided by AMSAT-UK will be available for educational outreach to school students around the world.

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

UKube-1 on display at UK Space Conference in Glasgow

Jul 12 2013

AMSAT’s FOX-1 Ham Radio CubeSat

AMSAT FOXIn HamRadioNow episode 85 Gary Pearce KN4AQ talks to a pair of AMSAT Vice Presidents – Tony Montiero AA2TX (Engineering) and Mark Hammond N8MH (Education) who tell us about the new Fox-1 Satellite.

They explain why AMSAT must transition from a bunch of hams who put up satellites for us to use, to a provider of the platform and communications for space science experiments for education (that also happen to have repeaters and transponders we can use).

Fox-1 is scheduled to launch from Vandenburg in November 2014 on the NASA ELaNa XII mission into a 470 x 780 km at 64 degrees inclination orbit. It will employ passive magnetic stabilization and carry a 435.180 MHz to 145.980 MHz FM voice transponder and an optional sub audible FSK digital carrier channel.

Watch HamRadioNow Episode 85: AMSAT’s Fox-1 Satellite

IARU Coordinates Frequencies for Fox-1A Ham Radio CubeSat
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/06/04/iaru-fox-1a-cubesat-frequencies/

Jul 9 2013

Radio Hams Kickstarter Plasma Thruster CubeSat

Artists impression of the CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT) satellite

Artists impression of the CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT) satellite

Radio amateurs Benjamin Longmier KF5KMP and James Cutler KF6RFX of the University of Michigan hope to raise $200,000 on Kickstarter for a CubeSat propulsion project.

The CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT) is a new plasma propulsion system which will push small spacecraft like CubeSats around in orbit or far beyond the Earth. They aim to use the CAT plasma thruster to propel a 5kg satellite into deep space at 1/1000th the cost of previous missions.

Just like a normal rocket that produces thrust from the burning and expansion of hot gases, CAT produces thrust from the expansion of a super-heated 350,000 °C plasma stream. Plasma is an ionized gas that can be accelerated to produce thrust (F=ma).  The force generated by this thruster will be very low (milli-newtons) but very efficient.  The engine will be turned on for long durations, accelerating the spacecraft to much higher velocities than a typical chemical rocket.

First, the propellant will be injected from its storage container into the plasma discharge chamber, a quartz bottle that distributes the gas and contains the plasma. The gas is turned into a plasma by a radio frequency antenna that surrounds the chamber and launches a plasma wave known as a “helicon.” The plasma is then launched out of the quartz bottle and guided by magnetic fields from extremely powerful permanent magnets. As the plasma escapes the CAT engine, this causes an equal and opposite thrust, pushing the satellite in the opposite direction. Unlike conventional rockets, almost any substance can be used as propellant for CAT – even liquid metals or water vapor!

Find out more about the project and watch the video on the Kickstarter site.

Kickstarter – CAT: A Thruster for Interplanetary CubeSats
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597141632/cat-a-thruster-for-interplanetary-cubesats

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CubeSatAmbipolarThruster

Jul 4 2013

Ham Radio CubeSat FITSAT-1 becomes a “Shooting Star”

FITSAT-1 used LED's to signal in Morse code

FITSAT-1 used LED’s to signal in Morse code

The amateur radio CubeSat FITSAT-1, also known as NIWAKA, burnt up in the Earth’s atmosphere in the early hours of Thursday, July 4, 2013.

Image of ISS taken by the FITSAT-1 CubeSat after deployment

Image of ISS taken by the FITSAT-1 CubeSat after deployment

Takushi Tanaka JA6AVG of the Fukuoka Institute of Technology FITSAT project has issued this statement:

FITSAT-1 has decayed on July 4, 2013. The last signal was received by JA0CAW at 03:07(UT).

I appreciate all hams who joined our experiments, helped our operations, and sent me many reports.

I could make many friends in the world and enjoyed through FITSAT-1. Though FITSAT-1 became a shooting star,  I am very happy now.

Thank you very much again all Ham friends.

FITSAT-1 Flight Model

FITSAT-1 Flight Model

FITSAT-1, built by students at the Fukuoka Institute of Technology, was one of five CubeSats launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on July 21, 2012.

The CubeSats WE-WISH, TechEdSat, F-1, FITSAT-1 and RAIKO were integrated with the J-SSOD small satellite deployer on the the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo and deployed by the Kibo robotic arm on October 4, 2012 into a 420 km orbit.

Four of them, WE-WISH, TechEdSat, F-1 and FITSAT-1, have now de-orbited only RAIKO remains. The CubeSats that have de-orbited were all 1U in size (10x10x10 cm, 1-1.2 kg). The remaining CubeSat RAIKO is 2U in size, twice the volume and mass (20x10x10 cm, 2 kg).

Takushi Tanaka JA6AVG and FITSAT

Takushi Tanaka JA6AVG and FITSAT

FITSAT-1 carried a CW telemetry beacon on 437.250 MHz, a 1200 bps AX.25 packet radio transmitter on 437.445 MHz, a high-speed (115.2 kbps) data transmitter on 5840.0 MHz and an optical LED array to flash Morse code to observers on Earth.

The 5840.0 MHz transmitter on FITSAT-1 ran about 2 watts output. It supported a data rate of 115.2 kbps and sent a JPEG 640×480 VGA pictures in just 6 sec.

FITSAT-1’s low orbit meant its lifespan was limited to just 9 months but in that time it was able to achieve a number of technology firsts. Its success showed the outstanding design and construction abilities of the student team from the Fukuoka Institute of Technology.

Pictures Received on 5840 MHz from Amateur Radio Satellite FITSAT-1
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/01/08/pictures-received-on-5840-mhz-from-amateur-radio-satellite-fitsat-1/

FITSAT-1 Successfully Flashes Morse Code from Space
https://amsat-uk.org/2012/12/12/amateur-radio-cubesat-fitsat-1-successfully-flashes-morse-code-from-space/

FITSAT-1 website http://www.fit.ac.jp/~tanaka/fitsat.shtml

Further information and pictures of the CubeSats are at
https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/techedsat-f-1-fitsat-1-we-wish/

Amateur Radio CubeSats TechEdSat, F-1 and FITSAT-1 pass the ISS solar panels

Amateur Radio CubeSats TechEdSat, F-1 and FITSAT-1 pass the ISS solar panels

Jul 1 2013

OPS-SAT Opportunity for Radio Amateurs

CAD drawing og OPS-SAT - credit ESA

CAD drawing of OPS-SAT – credit ESA

OPS-SAT provides a rare opportunity for testing new amateur radio software for use on a CubeSat actually in space. The 3U CubeSat has deployable solar arrays and plans to launch in 2016 into a Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Although the formal closing dates for expressions of interest from potential experimenters for this project has now closed, contact has been made with Dave Evans at ESA-ESOC who has confirmed that they would be very interested to receive proposals from an AMSAT team to develop a novel use of this spacecraft for amateur radio purposes.

In addition to an X Band downlink and S Band uplinks and downlinks, the spacecraft will carry a simplex transceiver operating with 4k8/9k6 telemetry using GMSK on the 435 MHz band.

It s understood that experimenters will have access to an onboard processor running Linux/Java at 500 to 800 MHz.

The project is open to teams led by a group from any ESA member country (this includes Canada) and initial info is shown here although the detailed design is being rapidly iterated.

It is emphasised that this is a very open project which will require lots of interaction between the contributing groups.

Bright ideas are needed from our software experts and If there is sufficient interest it may be possible to host a Skype conference about this opportunity during the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium over the weekend of July 20-21.

It is not proposed that this should be an AMSAT-UK led project, but Graham Shirville G3VZV is happy to provide some initial coordination!

OPS-SAT Evolving Software Technology for Spacecraft Operations
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/OPS-SAT_Evolving_Software_Technology_for_Spacecraft_Operations