Overview of this presentation: Introduction to the BLUEsat Project What are the objectives of this thesis project Overview of testing and integration of the Radio Systems on this Microsatelltite Scope and Progress Report to date Followed by questions from the audience…

BLUEsat Project B asic L ow Earth Orbit U NSW E xperimental Sat ellite Based on the AMSAT-NA microsatellite design Mass:Less than 15 Kg Size:240 x 240 x 240mm (min)

BLUEsat Structure Body mounted solar panels Modular stack tray design Spring loaded deployment mechanism Passive magnetic stabilization

BLUEsat Subsystems Flight Computer Communications Systems Imaging system Lexan Experiment Power Management GPS

Problems with Student Engineering Projects Volunteer based Organisation Limited Resources Lack of interfacing between sub-projects Lack of Experience

Particular Engineering Challenges with BLUEsat – our customer Complex Space Systems Engineering Lack of Knowledge and Experience Limited Resources Expensive operation Lack of Experience

Thesis Objectives: –Review of Requirements and Specifications of the Radio System –To test the functionality of the radio system and its components. –To integrate the system onto the microsatellite. –To gain deeper knowledge of the satellite development and operation in space.

Systems Engineering Approach

Requirements To: –Communicate to Groundstations –Transmit and Receive at 9600 bits per second –Transmit and Receive on Amateur Radio Bands –Comply with ITU and ACA Regulations –Fully operate under space conditions

Specification Receiver receives at the frequency of 435Hz Transmitter transmits at the frequency of 145Hz The input DC voltage is between 9.1 to 13.6 volts. The impedance of the antenna is 50 ohms.

Testing Plan Functionality –Basic On/Off Test Boundary Conditions –Physical limit of each component Environmental –Temperature –EMI –Radiation

RX 145 MHz TX 435 MHz TX 145 MHz RX 435 MHz Thesis Scope Earth Equipment and Testing units BLUEsat Interfaces BLUEsat Power System Antenna System Antenna System Antenna System Antenna System RF 435 MHz OutRF 145 MHz In Audio Out 2V P-P Audio In 2V P-P Unregulated battery voltage 13.6V -> flat battery ~ 10V Variable Controllable Voltage 13.6V – 9.1V FM 145MHz any polarisation FM 435 MHz RHCP polarisation

Functionality Testing basic operation of each component. Testing the basic functionality to see if it meets the spec values Pass or Fail criteria ESD free environment

Boundary condition Power –DC input power –RF performance Frequency –Frequency drift effected by the temperature –Doppler shift

Environmental tests Temperature EMI Radiation

Electrical systems: Radios from Hamtronics Modem chip onboard FC EDAC chip onboard FC SRAM (32MB) Batteries selected Solar Modules well into development Hybrid design based around SA1100 CPU (Digital) Telemetry collected via I2C Pacsat server software running under a Linux based OS

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