Category Archives: Amateur/Student Satellite

Amateur/Student Satellite, Space Radio, Space Systems

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – April.1.2019

April 1, 2019 TopSpacer

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs:

** Yale student team to build BLAST CubeSat with cosmic ray detector. The NASA sponsored spacecraft will launch in 2020: Student-built satellite to launch into space – Yale Daily News

On March 14, a group of Yale students learned some stellar news — NASA selected their satellite to be launched into space. The announcement marks the first time a Yale undergraduate group will launch a spacecraft.

The team — which consists of members of the Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association — received the launch grant through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative competition. Over the course of four years, students designed a satellite called BLAST, which stands for Bouchet Low-Earth Alpha/Beta Space Telescope.

See also:

** CubeSat SeaHawk-1 with an ocean color instrument was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in December. The SeaHawk team has released the first images from the spacecraft: SeaHawk-1 CubeSat Captures First Ocean Color Image – UNCW.edu.

This first SeaHawk-1 engineering test image (pictured above) was captured by the HawkEye instrument on March 21st, 2019 at 18:47 UT from an altitude of 588 km and superimposed on Google Map data © 2019 Google, INEGI. At the current altitude that SeaHawk is flying, the pixel resolution of the HawkEye instrument is approximately 130 meters (425 feet) giving us an image size of approximately 6000 lines along track (780 km or 485 mi) x 1800 pixels across track (234 km or 145 mi). The true color full resolution closeup of the region from south of Monterey Bay to north of San Francisco (presented below) was produced by combining three of the Hawkeye bands (red band-6 (670nm), green band-5 (555nm) and blue band-2 (443nm).

The project is led by the SOCON (Sustained Ocean Color Observations using Nanosatellites) team at Univ. of North Carolina at Wilmington and also includes NASA, AAC Clyde Space, and Cloudland Instruments. The project was funded with grants from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

SeaHawk-1 is a 3U CubeSat (size 30x10x10cm and weight 5kg) designed and built by AAC Clyde Space and launched in December 2018 aboard SpaceX Falcon 9. SeaHawk-1 CubeSat was one of the 64 satellites included in the Spaceflight SSO-A Small Sat Express: their first dedicated ride-share mission for small satellites.

SeaHawk-1 is also the first 3U CubeSat specifically designed to carry an ocean color instrument payload (HawkEye). The goal of this proof-of-concept mission is to provide free high-spatial resolution images of Earth’s coastal regions. HawkEye, designed by Cloudland Instruments, is an 8-band multispectral instrument similar to SeaWiFS (one of the most successful ocean color missions to date).

It differs in that: it was miniaturized (10x10x10cm) to fit inside the CubeSat, band 7 was modified to improve atmospheric correction, all bands were designed not to saturate over land, and the entire sensor was built with low-cost, off-the-shelf materials.

** University of Toronto students fund and build CubeSat for space biology experiment: Lofty goals: UTAT gears up for milestone competitions – U of T Engineering News

The Space Systems Division is preparing to launch the first fully student-funded Canadian satellite into orbit. The small satellite, or cubesat — about the size of a loaf of bread — will carry a biological payload and will analyze the behavior of bacteria in space with the aim of assessing the risk of infections during a long-term space mission.

The team has a busy summer ahead: they’ll be testing the accuracy of the sensors on the cubesat, running hundreds of hours of electronics tests and conducting thermal tests to ensure their satellite’s components can withstand the extreme temperatures it will experience in orbit, between -40 and 80 degrees C.

The cubesat is scheduled to launch on the Indian Space Research Organization’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in January 2020.

*“Cassandra Chanen (Year 2 EngSci) shows off the Heron MK II, a cubesat that will take a microbiology payload to space. (Credit: Erica Rae Chong)”*

** More about the Hampton University students developing CubeSat software in a project sponsored by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium:

Hampton University is part of a collaborative project of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium where students from three Virginia universities delivered small satellites to NanoRacks in Houston, to be integrated into a CubeSat deployer (NRCSD), which will be launched into space on April 17, 2019. Four undergraduate Hampton University students worked on the project by developing software to perform analysis on the data that will be received from the satellites.

“Hampton University has always been on the forefront of innovation. The work our students are doing is being recognized and utilized by industry leaders, and we are excited to be part of this collaboration,” said Hampton University President, Dr. William R. Harvey.

The satellites will communicate data to ground stations at Virginia Tech, University of Virginia and Old Dominion University for subsequent analysis using an analytical tool being developed by Hampton University students from the Atmospheric and Planetary Science Department.

More than 140 undergraduate students have been hard at work on the mission since June 2016 as a cross-institutional team. Undergraduate student leaders and team members from physics, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and computer science disciplines have worked together to make the mission a reality. The students have been coached by faculty advisors and have benefitted greatly from advice from NASA, industry and academic advisors, and NanoRacks, the world’s leading commercial space station company.

*“Asanji Chofor at the CubeSat build AGILE workshop.”*

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-090 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

SSTV Transmissions from ISS Set for April 1-2, 2019
AO73/FUNcube-1 Mode Changes
AMSAT Academy to be Held Prior to Hamvention Thursday, May 16, 2019
ARISS Out-of-this-Word Auction Starts April 8, 2018
International Space Station Astronauts are Calling CQ Students
India Space Research Organization to Launch EMISAT With 28 Satellites on April 1, 2019
AMSAT India Requests APRS Reports
GRCon19 to be Held September 16-20, 2019
This Month in AMSAT History
AmazonSmile for AMSAT!
Microwave Update Conference October 3-5, 2019 in Lewisville, TX
Upcoming Satellite Operations
ARISS News
Satellite Shorts from All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

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Amateur/Student Satellite, Education, Space Radio

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Mar.25.2019

March 25, 2019 TopSpacer

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs:

** Arizona student team to build CubeSat with inflatable antenna for NASA program: UA Student-led CatSat Mission Selected by NASA | UANews

An inflatable space antenna designed by University of Arizona students is one of 16 small research satellites from 10 states NASA has selected to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard space missions planned to launch in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The selections are part of the 10th round of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative.

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CatSat is a 6U CubeSat led by UA students from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and various departments including aerospace and mechanical engineering, astronomy, computer science, and systems and industrial engineering.

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CatSat is the size of a large cereal box. When fully deployed, the inflatable expands in a bubble gum fashion, forming a sphere three feet across that sticks out from one side of the box. An aluminized spot inside the inflated sphere is used as the communication antenna to beam data back to the Earth. Since Catsat will be in low Earth orbit, the data can be downloaded using a ground station located at the UA.

CatSat is mainly a technology demonstration mission to mature this inflatable concept in Earth orbit. The ultimate goal is to fly such an antenna on an interplanetary mission that Reddy wants to lead to explore small bodies in the solar system.

** Hampton Univ. student team developing improve software for Cubesats: Hampton University students developing analysis software for satellites | 13newsnow.com

College students from all around Virginia, including in Hampton, are working on a major project that will analyze data of tiny satellites sent into space.

Four undergrad students from Hampton University are working with students from three other state universities to deliver small satellites to NanoRacks in Houston, Texas to be integrated into a CubeSat deployer (NRCSD).

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-083 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

AMSAT Activities at Hamvention 2019
NASA on the Air
Satellite Operating Demonstrations Planned for Tucson Hamfest
Three more 50th Anniversary Certificates Earned
“Getting Started” Guide CLoseout
Canadian Artist To Use HAARP To Transmit SSTV
ESEO Satellite Commissioning Starts
FoxTelem Version 1.07 Released
Sally Ride EarthKAM @ Space Camp’s 66th Mission Is Open For Registration
K6FW Gets 488 Grids
Upcoming Satellite Operations
ARISS News
Shorts From All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

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Amateur/Student Satellite

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Mar.17.2019

March 17, 2019 TopSpacer

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs:

** SpudNik-1 student CubeSat project at the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada: It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a satellite built by UPEI engineering students – The Cadre/UPEI

CubeSat is a three-year project in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency in which multiple student teams work together to design, build and launch a miniature satellite. UPEI was one of 15 schools chosen for the project and started building the satellite in September.

The project at UPEI is a little different than others. The satellite is being worked on primarily by undergraduate students, said dean of engineering, Nicholas Krouglicof.

“We are doing it primarily with the undergraduate students through our design clinic program.”

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The satellite being built by UPEI engineering students called SpudNik-1 will be used for precision agriculture on the Island. It will be able to detect a small area to distribute pesticides, instead of just spraying a large area. It will be able to determine if crops need more water and detect changes in overall landscape.

** Designing smallSats for animal tracking in NASA sponsored contest – Problem Solvers Win NASA Tournament Lab Challenge | NASA

Implemented by HeroX, the challenge sought ideas and concepts that incorporate small satellite technology along with other space, stratosphere, land and water surface systems to improve upon the current system of data reception for tracking animal position and path movement. A panel made up of NASA, BOEM and external experts evaluated submissions and recommended two winners. HeroX awarded each winning team $15,000.

Gaia: The Future of Satellite Animal Tracking, London
Gaia proposed a constellation of 42 CubeSats orbiting 400 miles above Earth, each with a unique deployable antenna to enable reliable communication with 401 MHz animal tags. The design could enhance bandwidth, coverage and geolocation accuracy.

NEMO: The Near Earth Marine Observer, Stanford University in California
This team of five graduate students proposed a constellation of 10 polar orbiting CubeSats and implements an open tag tracking standard via Doppler-shift location mapping. Using low-cost commercial-off-the-shelf hardware and open-source software protocols, the solution could provide fast, low-cost and easy access to tag data.

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-076 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

AMSAT at the Dayton Hamvention — Call for volunteers
Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS
50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award
Lilacsat-1 LO-90 Re-entry Commemorative Competition
ARRL TI-2 Teachers Institute Includes Amateur Satellite Telemetry
ARRL Supports No Change to Table of Allocations for 45.5 – 47 and 47 – 47.2 GHz Bands
Upcoming Satellite Operations
AMSAT-DL QO-100 Up- and Downconverter Kit Modifications Announcement
Changes to the AMSAT-NA TLE Distribution This Week
Satellite/AMSAT Presentation at Phoenix AZ – March 21, 2019
VUCC Awards-Endorsements for February 2019
GPS Network May Experience Errors in “Week Number” Rollover
Satellite Shorts From All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat info:

Amateur/Student Satellite, Education, Space Systems

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Mar.10.2019

March 10, 2019 TopSpacer

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs:

** Old Dominion University (ODU) CubeSat completed for the Virginia CubeSat Constellation program (see previous CubeSat Roundup for more about the Virginia Cubesat Constellation initiative): ODU’s CubeSat Moves Closer to Liftoff – News @ ODU

A team of Old Dominion University students took a giant leap toward space as they joined two other Virginia universities in delivering their CubeSats to NanoRacks in Houston on Feb. 26. The nano-sized cube satellites were successfully integrated into the company’s commercially developed NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) in preparation for launch on Northrop Grumman’s Antares to the International Space Station. The launch is scheduled for April 17 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.

Kimberly Wright, a graduate student in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, serves as student mission manager for ODU. She was accompanied by her teammates, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering master’s student Westin Messer and Electrical Engineering master’s student Anthony Cappiello, as well as their faculty advisor, associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Dimitrie Popescu. Wright was thrilled to finally hand off ODU’s CubeSat for this critical step in a multiyear journey.

*Kim Wright (Center), mission lead for ODU, takes a picture of the ODU CubeSat. UVA mission lead Erin Puckette (Left) and Virginia Tech mission lead Madison Brodnax (Right) look on.*

** The Alabama CubeSat Initiative will involve about 100 students and faculty from colleges around the state in the developing of CubeSats for deep space missions:

“There have been many student-developed CubeSats previously; to the best of my knowledge, there has never been a student-developed CubeSat to fly outside LEO,” says Dr. Dale Thomas, ASGC director, UAH professor and the eminent scholar in systems engineering. “I think that’s a pretty big deal. And it will be exceptionally challenging.”

On Oct. 16, the Alabama Space Authority passed a resolution supporting the Alabama CubeSat Initiative. The intent of the initiative is to ramp up a system by which ASGC members will eventually fly one collaborative CubeSat per year.

The Initiative is sponsored by the Alabama Space Grant Consortium (ASGC). Commercial support for the program: LogiCore donates $5,000 to help ASGC CubeSat workshop – ASGA

A $5,000 donation from LogiCore Corporation, a logistics and engineering services company in Huntsville Alabama is helping the Alabama Space Grant Consortium (ASGC) to design and build the first in a planned series of statewide collaborative cube satellites (CubeSats).

A recent workshop about the project, which will carry a gamma-ray burst (GRB) detector to be placed in the vicinity of the moon to detect short gamma-ray bursts, was partially sponsored by the LogiCore donation.

** Sydney University’s Centre for CubeSats, UAVs & their Applications (CUAVA) will build two technology demonstration satellites that will be deployed from the Japanese module on the ISS: Sydney Uni partners with Japanese start-up to launch CubeSats – iTnews

The Training Centre for CubeSats, Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles and their Applications (CUAVA) is currently developing two CubeSats to test the uses for cheaper, smaller satellites in the Australian context while developing local expertise in the field.

‘CUAVA-1’ is set to be the first satellite launched later this year, and will be laden with remote sensing, GPS, and communications equipment, along with sensors to monitor the environment in space.

Space BD, who is also a commercial service provider with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will provide end-to-end launch and deployment services for CUAVA.

** Latest on KickSat-2, which has over 100 tiny ChipSats on board:

We just sent a reset command to #KickSat2 to try re-deploying the antenna. Any help receiving packets in the next few days would be hugely appreciated! @SatNOGS @cgbassa @radiotelescoop @dk3wn @pe0sat @HAMSATNL

— Zac Manchester (@zacinaction) March 8, 2019

** AMSAT news on student and amateur CubeSat/smallsat projects: ANS-069 AMSAT News Service Special Bulletin

Out of This World Auction Sponsored by ARISS
AMSAT-F Space Meeting is First Live DATV Conference via QO-100
GNU Licensed KLog Logbook Software v.0.9.7 Released
How to support AMSAT
Upcoming Satellite Operations
Satellite Shorts from All Over

General CubeSat/SmallSat news & info:

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Galaxy Girls: 50 Amazing Stories of Women in Space.

Amateur/Student Satellite

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – March.3.2019

March 3, 2019 TopSpacer

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs:

** The Virginia CubeSat Constellation involves students at four Virginia universities and is supported by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium. They have developed three CubeSats that will be launched to the ISS on a Cygnus cargo craft and then sent into orbit by a NanoRacks deployment system: Three Virginia University Satellites Get Closer to Launch – Virginia Space Grant Consortium (pdf)

A giant leap towards space for Virginia university students took place on February 26 when students from three Virginia universities delivered their small satellites to NanoRacks in Houston to be integrated into the Company’s commercially developed CubeSat deployer (NRCSD) and then launched on Northrop Grumman’s Antares to the International Space Station.

The satellites are part of the Virginia CubeSat Constellation mission, a collaborative project of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium and four of its member universities: Old Dominion University (ODU), Virginia Tech (VT), University of Virginia (UVA), and Hampton University (HU). Three nano-satellites, each about 4 inches cubed and weighing approximately 3 pounds, have been developed and instrumented (one each at ODU, VT and UVA) to obtain measurements of the properties of the Earth’s atmosphere. As the orbits of the satellites decay due to atmospheric drag, satellite instruments will quantify atmospheric density.

The three CubeSats will be deployed via the NRCSD by astronauts aboard the International Space Station into orbit near-simultaneously so they can orbit together and function as a constellation. The ODU satellite, which has a drag brake to intentionally cause orbital decay, is expected to remain in orbit for up to four months. The other two satellites should orbit for up to two years at an altitude of 250 miles before burning up when they re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. The satellites will communicate data to ground stations at Virginia Tech, University of Virginia and Old Dominion University for subsequent analysis using an analytical tool being developed by Hampton University students from the Atmospheric and Planetary Science Department.