Tag Archives: Nanosat

Jul 9 2012

Reform of the Outer Space Act 1986: Consultation

The UK Space Agency has issued a public consultation seeking views of stakeholders on proposed changes to the Outer Space Act 1986.

This is in response to the Government Growth Review published in March 2011, in which the Government set out its wish to reform the Outer Space Act 1986 by introducing an upper limit on liability for UK operators.

The Outer Space Act covers all UK satellites irrespective of size, from tiny low cost educational CubeSats up to large commercial £500 million satellites.

The key aspects of the consultation are the proposals to waive the capped liability and insurance requirement for in-orbit operation of any satellite that meets the criteria of a CubeSat and to remove the requirement for unlimited indemnity from satellite operators.

The existing Outer Space Act imposes heavy additional costs (>£50,000 per annum) on those wishing to launch small educational CubeSats. The additional costs act as a major deterrent and to-date no such UK CubeSat has been launched.

The public consultation closes August 31, 2012.

Further information at
http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency/news-and-events/2012/May/
reform-of-the-outer-space-act-1986-consultation

Jun 24 2012

Video of ArduSat NASDAQ Interview

NanoSatisfi founder Peter Platzer appeared on the Japanese NASDAQ TV feed to talk about the ArduSat satellite.

ArduSat is an open-source arduino-based nanosatellite. It will have an extensive sensor-suite onboard and will allow users to upload their own code and run their own experiments.

ArduSat will use a GomSpace NanoCom U482C which is a half-duplex UHF transceiver, capable of up to 3W, operating in the 435-438 MHz amateur radio satellite band. It implements Forward Error Correction (FEC) and Viterbi coding based on the CCSDS standards in order to improve reliability and throughput of the space link.

The project is raising donations through the Kickstarter site at http://nanosatisfi.com/ In just over a week they raised more than $43,000 in pledges from almost 300 donors.

Watch NanoSatisfi NASDAQ interview which is in English with Japanese sub-titles

Watch ArduSat Kickstarter Thank you

It is understanding the team are now aiming for a larger 2U CubeSat instead of the 1U originally planned.

ISIS CubeSat Structure Brochure http://www.isispace.nl/brochures/ISIS_CubeSat%20Structures_Brochure_v.7.11.pdf

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/NanoSatisfi/307866409295499

ArduSat Arduino CubeSat Technical Details https://amsat-uk.org/2012/06/20/ardusat-arduino-cubesat-technical-details/

ArduSat Open Source CubeSat Next Phase in DIY Space Access http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8337

ArduSat Arduino CubeSat Update http://www.uk.amsat.org/?p=8284

NanoSatisfi was founded by Austrian-born Peter Platzer a former high-energy physicist (CERN), former Hedge Fund Quantitative Trader, avid HP-41 hacker and Arduino enthusiast, along with Belgian aerospace engineer Jeroen Cappaert intern at NASA Ames Research Center, Canadian aerospace engineer Joel Spark intern at EADS Astrium and Hungarian Reka Kovacs intern at NASA Ames Research Center working on alternative methods of public outreach for space science. The four founders met at the International Space University in Strasbourg and thought that they could do something to provide affordable, open-source space exploration for everyone.

Jun 12 2012

SimpleSat Look Down satellite tracking software now available

SimpleSat Look Down is a free easy to use software app for satellite tracking.

Written by Tom Doyle W9KE it includes a satellite look down window that displays the view from the satellite looking down at the earth as it moves along.

It uses .NET 4 and runs on Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista and XP.

Tom has released this collection of videos that explain how SimpleSat Look Down works:

Watch SimpleSat Look Down – best viewed full screen HD

Watch SimpleSat Look Down – Setup  – Best Viewed Full Screen HD

Watch SimpleSat Look Down – General Operation – Best Viewed Full Screen HD

Watch SimpleSat Look Down – Rotor Setup – best viewed full screen in HD

You can download SimpleSat Look Down from
http://www.tomdoyle.org/SimpleSatLookDown/SimpleSatLookDown.html

Jun 5 2012

STRaND-2 and OSCAR-5 in SatMagazine

The STRaND-2 nanosats feature in the June issue of the free publication SatMagazine.

These innovative satellites, being developed in the UK by the University of Surrey and SSTL, feature on pages 25 and 26 of the magazine

Additionally on page 71 there is a picture of the satellite OSCAR-5 that was built by radio amateurs at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Download the June 2012 SatMagazine at http://www.satmagazine.com/2012/SM_Jun2012.pdf

SatMagazine http://www.satmagazine.com/

STRaND-2 ‘Kinect’ Satellites Video http://www.uk.amsat.org/7851

Surrey Satellite to put Xbox parts in space http://www.uk.amsat.org/7771

‘Kinect’ STRaND-2 at UK Space Agency Conference http://www.uk.amsat.org/6795

Jun 5 2012

ArduSat Open-Source Arduino-based Satellite

ArduSat is an open-source arduino-based CubeSat. It plans to have an extensive sensor-suite onboard that will allow users to upload their own code and run their own experiments.

Watch KickStarter ArduSat

Open Satellite Network https://sites.google.com/a/hackersinspace.net/www/

Jun 3 2012

Satellite Link Budget Information and Lunar Beacons

Download the spread sheet here (1.2 MB) (ver 2.4.1 – updated 11/4/2007)

Download Basic Analog Transponder Spread sheet here and its notes here

Lunar Beacons – The Earth Moved by James Miller G3RUH http://www.amsat.org/amsat/articles/g3ruh/110.html

Lunar Transponder Calculations by Domenico I8CVS http://www.uk.amsat.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Lunar-Transponder-Calculations-by-I8CVS.txt