Questions tagged [cubesat]
Type of satellite in the shape of a cube 10 cm on each side. Popular with academics and amateurs with a focus on off-the-shelf components.
153
questions
18
votes
3answers
2k views
How do these cubesats' whip antennas work?
This answer has identified the three 1U cubesats shown in the question, and links to Engineers Rule's Maya-1: The Philippines’ First CubeSat along with the video Animation of MAYA-1, The Philippines' ...
1
vote
1answer
132 views
What cubesats are these, what flags are on them, and why? What's the background story?
This tweet includes the image below and says:
Cubesats deploying from ISS.
Question: What cubesats are these, what flags are on them, and why? What's the background story?
Cropped, magnified and ...
2
votes
1answer
98 views
SpaceX rideshare missions: how many smallsats fit?
SpaceX has just announced their new smallsat rideshare program. Is it known how many satellites can be launched at once? Any estimates?
1
vote
1answer
148 views
If there “won't be” rockets to launch individual cubesats, then why did JAXA build exactly that? (SS-520-xx)
The question Why isn't there a rocket to launch a single cubesat? has several good answers that explain why there isn't and/or will not likely be one, based mostly on commercial viability, consistent ...
1
vote
1answer
122 views
Total delta-v expected from Lightsail-2's solar sail before end of mission, and why end it so soon?
While Bill Nye has recently gotten quite upset at us for some things (strong language for Bill Nye warning), in the video below he expresses heartfelt thanks to all members of the Planetary Society ...
3
votes
1answer
65 views
How can I calculate if a satellite is currently in sunlight or eclipse using pyEphem or Skyfield (preferred)?
I'd like to add this to some existing python scripts to model cubesat battery life and payload temperature but the math escapes me.
1
vote
1answer
72 views
Impact of having two antennas on link budget calculations
I'm working on link budget of a cubesat mission that needs to have two dipole antennas that are perpendicular to each other. I want to know if having two antennas affect the link budget? losses, and ...
7
votes
0answers
79 views
How strict are dispenser integrators when a CubeSat requirement is not met?
I'm working on designing a CubeSat component which does not comply with all of the requirements in the latest CubeSat Design Specification (CDS), namely:
"The ends of the rails on the +/- Z face ...
1
vote
1answer
56 views
IRIS Transceiver for LEO Missions?
My professor really wants to know if the IRIS transceiver, which flew on MarCo, will be used in LEO. In fact so much that he doesn't accept "no" for an answer. I have searched for an example but found ...
8
votes
1answer
589 views
Are there cubesats in GEO?
This answer to the question How often do reaction wheels require desaturation, normally? says:
One practical example I know of is for a 6U in GEO that is always sun pointed, there's a thruster ...
8
votes
5answers
260 views
Why isn't there a rocket to launch a single cubesat?
I find the business model for RocketLab interesting. It is said that they fill a niche in the market by using smaller rockets. And it is true, in comparison to e.g. Falcon 9's payload of 9,500 kg, ...
2
votes
1answer
57 views
Maintenance manouvers for a Dawn-Dusk SSO?
I'm in charge of the ADCS for a class project, which consists on a 25U-cubesat, in a 650-km dawn-dusk Sun-synchronous orbit or SSO.
What are the orbit correction/maintenance manouvers a spacecraft ...
4
votes
1answer
128 views
How do you find the temperature of an orbiting aluminum sheet 10x10 cm
I'm trying to find the temperature of a CubeSat in orbit at 140km. I'm trying to use the Stefan-Boltzmann law but don't know how to incorporate the energy from sunlight. I'm using this as a check for ...
12
votes
2answers
2k views
Temperature of a satellite orbiting in low Earth orbit
I am working on a project for science fair that involves a deployable component that will not be heated on a CubeSat. I am trying to find data for the skin temperature of a satellite (or the ISS) over ...
1
vote
2answers
124 views
Operator access to a cube satellite or any educational satellite
I would like to have free or low-cost access to an existing CubeSat (educational satellite) for educational purposes. I wish to familiarise myself with the end to end command & control activities, ...
1
vote
0answers
42 views
Was any data actually transmitted between OSCD and ISARA in the recent CubeSat lasercom test?
Two CubeSats (the OCSD and ISARA CubeSats) recently demonstrated technology for on-orbit sat-sat laser communications. All the information I have been able to find doesn't indicate if the test ...
1
vote
0answers
83 views
What is the estimate price for small ion thrusters on cubesats?
I can't find much about price for ion thruster and I read from somewhere that most ion thruster are off the rack product. I just need the rough estimate price for a small ion thruster and the closest ...
2
votes
0answers
56 views
Suggestions required on radiation tolerance solutions
I wanted to know what methods of increasing radiance tolerance for the microcontroller and memory devices for a Cubesat exist. We have read about methods like having dual CPUs but are there any ...
0
votes
1answer
89 views
What are ways to store hydrogen for electric propulsion without a heavy pressure vessel?
This comment points out that any advantages of using low-mass ionized atomic hydrogen (i.e. protons) for electric propulsion if you had a fixed acceleration voltage and plenty of electrical power ...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Could a cubesat propel itself to Mars?
I wrote the answer below to the question Could a cubesat be propelled to the moon? before realizing that it said Moon and I'd written it for Mars, so I've cloned that question and moved the answer ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Could a cubesat be self propelled to the moon from LEO?
Is it possible with current technologies to propel a cubesat, which is launched from Earth, to the moon?
If current propulsion systems are able to do so, how do I continue the research in this topic ...
4
votes
1answer
111 views
Among Quantitative Feedback Theory and H infinity, which one is preferred for robust control of satellites esp. small satellites? And why?
I am interested in designing a robust controller for a small satellite with antenna, sloshing propellant and flexible panels on board. I am mostly interested in achieving arcsec precision pointing ...
4
votes
2answers
155 views
How do we manage the residual magnetic moment of magnetorquer with a ferromagnetic core?
I'm currently working on a control algorithm, specifically in detumbling, for a 3U cubesat. I'm using magnetorquers for actuation and magnetometers to receive feedback. If I have no current passing ...
2
votes
1answer
263 views
Which Cubesat Cameras Actually Worked in Orbit before 2019?
Short question:
Which Cubesat Cameras Actually Worked in Orbit before the year 2019?
Context and explanation:
The very few missions which published at least one image I've found:
Planet Labs ...
1
vote
1answer
217 views
New Terran 1 rocket - launch costs for Cubesat
I was reading about the Terran 1 rocket and the fact that the founding company managed to secure the launch site at Cape Canaveral. Pretty amazing story on its own but then I looked at prices and they ...
6
votes
0answers
237 views
What is “OBJECT BS”?
I checked 2018-099 in Celestrak's satcat again for the question Where can I find the TLE of ExseedSat 1, India's first ever private LEO satellite? and noticed that ...
4
votes
1answer
218 views
Cost of an earth observation cubesat satellite like Planet-s Doves?
With the Cubesat standard and more and more components being available off the shelf, this should really bring down the price of building a (simple) earth observation platform.
I am curious how low a ...
4
votes
1answer
120 views
Could you track small particles in space and could you control their position with lasers or reflected light?
If you released a large amount of small but precise particles (the size of glitter or confetti) is space, between a group of cube sats.
Could you track the particles with cameras and/or lasers?
And ...
5
votes
2answers
154 views
The fine prints of launching a satellite
I have read about the space law, international and legal responsibility of the companies and countries involved and I must say it is complex, not to say scary. I can't imagine the lawyers' costs prior ...
7
votes
1answer
463 views
How are cubesat electronics protected against the effects of radiation in LEO?
I'm curious to know the various ways that cubesat electronics can be protected from the effects of cosmic rays or solar events while in LEO. How different are the components used in cubesats from some ...
2
votes
1answer
91 views
help understanding this complicated structure that will deploy HySIS
This ISRO page for the HysYS spacecraft says:
HysIS, the primary satellite of PSLV-C43 mission, weighing about 380 kg, is an earth observation satellite configured around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 (...
4
votes
2answers
81 views
How close will the cubesats be when numerous of them are launched simultaneously?
Checking the onboard video of PSLV C43 gives a feel like the CubeSats are released in very proximity.
Does this mean that these CubeSats will be orbiting in such very close proximity through out ...
3
votes
2answers
122 views
Cubesat mass density (kg/U) statistics?
The stuff of which COTS cubesats are made (aluminum, silicon, G10/FR-4, battery) has a density in the ballpark of 2 to 3 (g/cm^3) while vacuum is roughly 0. I'd always figured that cubesats built from ...
2
votes
0answers
127 views
What can be done in future mass-cubesat deploys to make them “less irksome” to orbital space debris experts?
In the first group of questions below the block quotes, I've illustrated situations where a large number of cubesats are deployed at one launch (56 an 104 satellites) and it seemed to take quite a ...
1
vote
0answers
49 views
Distributed computational power-sharing and orbital supercomputer
I had an interesting conversation last night with a nanosatellite engineer about how much computational power is required in a nanosatellite constellation and if it's necessary.
I had an idea or a ...
1
vote
0answers
85 views
Use or tests of multimode optical fiber for cubesat battery charging or datalink while in storage, or waiting to launch?
the idea of POF or power over fiber is to couple a moderate amount of solid state laser light, say a few hundred milliWatts or even several Watts (or potentially more, but it gets more challenging), ...
5
votes
1answer
151 views
Has a cubesat in LEO determined its orbit and position using only terrestrial cameras plus the Sun? (no GPS, starcam, uplink, magnetic sensors, etc.)
From LEO, a cubesat with several reasonable cell phone-like cameras (or better) can image the Earth and it seems straightforward for some standard pattern recognition algorithms to find the sunlit ...
3
votes
1answer
206 views
Typical 1U CubeSat Detumbling time determination using passive control?
I would like to be able to estimate roughly how long it takes for a 1U cubesat using a permanent magnet for passive control to detumble after the deployment at about 550 km.
Assuming there is some ...
1
vote
1answer
195 views
Yet another OSIRIS! Has the DLR/GOM Space test of the cubesat optical communications link happened yet?
Speaking of "all things OSIRIS" I just ran across the OSIRIS optical communications system for cubesats and smallsats.
OSIRIS (Optical Space Infrared Downlink System) highly compact optical ...
5
votes
2answers
134 views
Can a swarm of nano-probes act as a phased antenna of a greater power?
One problem with nano-satellites and generally any small spacecraft is that you can't fit a powerful power source and antenna - their usability outside vicinity of 'adult' satellites or Earth is thus ...
3
votes
1answer
180 views
What is this “space ring”? Is it SHERPA or something new, or just “art”?
In the orbitalreflector.com website there is a picture of a ring that looks like it can deploy smallsats as part of a more complex launch. Reverse image search turns up another view, both shown below.
...
1
vote
0answers
95 views
Attitude of the upcoming “Orbital Reflector”; will it result in good visibility?
There's a new (passive solar) orbital reflector, called the Orbital Reflector.
While Mayak (Маяк) was a crowdfunded project at Moscow State Mechanical Engineering University and the Humanity Star ...
2
votes
1answer
116 views
How will JAXA's space elevator-testing cubesat experiment work?
The Infobae article Japón inicia hoy el ambicioso proyecto de construir un ascensor espacial which translated from Spanish into English by Google says
Japan begins today the ambitious project to ...
1
vote
0answers
81 views
Interface CSP over UART on PIC 24FJ256GA110 with no operating system [closed]
I am using a PIC 24FJ256GA110 without an operating system. Is there any reference code I can use as a starting point to write the driver for the GOMSpace transceiver?
Also if someone has advice on ...
2
votes
3answers
492 views
What are the prospects for comms with cubesats using “normal” internet connections?
Can a cubesat in orbit be operated like a R/C airplane in real time?
edit: if the link here and the end aren't clear, I'm interested in the ease and convenience of access, the frequency of possible ...
3
votes
1answer
217 views
Hyperspectral Imaging from Low Earth Orbit
We're going to be putting a CubeSat into orbit next year and want to use a hyperspectral imaging device onboard.
My questions relates to the maths needed to calculate the imaging lens needed to ...
4
votes
1answer
204 views
MarCo, Polo? Any further news, or images, or transmissions from the MarCo deep space cubesats?
Edit: Two more months have gone by since I posted this question. Can there still be no news? Nothing for the two MarCo cubesats to take photos of; not even each other?
While InSight is still "under ...
2
votes
1answer
73 views
Looking for info about commercial usage of satellites with examples [closed]
I'm doing research for an article and I'm looking for info about usage of satellites by commercial companies. For instance, usage of small satellites by insurance companies (imaging and etc.) or ...
1
vote
1answer
299 views
Design Software Recommendations
I'm currently working on "base stones" of future cubesat mission and I'm doing some research for designing or simulation of cubesats. Software that I found on google costs enormous price and I'm ...
1
vote
1answer
209 views
Why can't we use MIMO antennas in a cubesat?
I understand that there are no scatterers in communication between ground station and satellite but does it mean it cannot be used or is it just inefficient ?
