Radio amateurs James Cutler KF6RFX, Andrew Mitchell KD8RCO and K. Scott Tripp KD8IPK are involved in developing the Michigan Multipurpose Minisatellite (MCubed-2) at the University of Michigan.

The mission objectives for the MCubed-2 are to capture mid-resolution images of the Earth from Low Earth Orbit, perform a technology demonstration for a novel new Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and train the next generation of Aerospace Engineers.

Testing the FPGA on a CubeSat platform will provide valuable information as to how it survives Low Earth Orbit and how well it operates when processing real image data.

M-Cubed implements a 3 mega-pixel CMOS camera that will transfer the image to the FPGA upon request. MCubed-2 is also an educational project for Engineering students at the University of Michigan. M-Cubed provides hands-on experience for students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to build flight hardware for a space mission.

The training these students gain by working on this project will better prepare them for work in the Aerospace industry. MCubed-2 is a 1U CubeSat and the group is proposing to use a 1 watt output simplex transceiver on UHF with 9k6 telemetry.

It is planned to launch from Vandenberg into a 770 km by 460 km 123 degree orbit with these spacecraft: Medgar Evers – CUNYSat-1 Cal Poly – IPEX: MSU – Firebird: UH – H-2: Kentucky Space – KySat-2: SLU – Argus: LLNL – Udjat: SMDC – TacSat-6, SNaP-1/2/3, SMDC ONE 2.3/2.4 Aerospace Corp. – AeroCube-5a/5b/6 AFIT – ALICE: GSFC/Siena College – Firefly: USC – MaVEx: USU – STACEM:

More information is available at http://exploration.engin.umich.edu/missions/mcubed/iaru/

The MCubed-2 IARU frequency application is http://exploration.engin.umich.edu/missions/mcubed/iaru/MCubed2_oct2012.doc