KickSat - a personal spacecraft of your own in space
Hello,
I'm launching a project in my spare time that some AMSAT members might be interested in. I'm a graduate student in Aerospace Engineering at Cornell, and I've been working on a ChipSat/Femtosatellite called Sprite for the last several years. I want to launch a CubeSat full of Sprites into low Earth orbit to demonstrate their viability in space. I'm raising money to build the hardware via the Kickstarter website (kicksat.org). Donors who sponsor a sprite will get to name it and specify the text that it will transmit. A group or club can also sponsor a fleet of Sprites together.
I'm doing this to try to get more people involved in spaceflight. I want to make it easy enough and cheap enough so that anyone can take part.
Please check out my page on Kickstarter for more information - kicksat.org
Thanks, Zac Manchester
Interesting idea Zac, but I have a few questions.
Will each Sprite have it's own frequency?
Since these Sprites are operating in the Amateur satellite bands, how will you license them?
How will you handle the frequency coordination of these transmitters?
Regards...Bill - N6GHz
On 10/9/2011 6:22 AM, Zac Manchester wrote:
Hello,
I'm launching a project in my spare time that some AMSAT members might be interested in. I'm a graduate student in Aerospace Engineering at Cornell, and I've been working on a ChipSat/Femtosatellite called Sprite for the last several years. I want to launch a CubeSat full of Sprites into low Earth orbit to demonstrate their viability in space. I'm raising money to build the hardware via the Kickstarter website (kicksat.org). Donors who sponsor a sprite will get to name it and specify the text that it will transmit. A group or club can also sponsor a fleet of Sprites together.
I'm doing this to try to get more people involved in spaceflight. I want to make it easy enough and cheap enough so that anyone can take part.
Please check out my page on Kickstarter for more information - kicksat.org
Thanks, Zac Manchester _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Will each Sprite have it's own frequency?
Since these Sprites are operating in the Amateur satellite bands, how will you license them? How will you handle the frequency coordination of these transmitters?
The information that Zac and his team provided to AMSAT News Service in May, 2011 reported that the Sprite prototypes that were deployed on the ISS operated with 10 milliwatts of RF power at 902 MHz using MSK modulation (minimum-shift keying) with a chipping rate of 50 kbps.
Copy of original release below ...
-- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm@amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-149.03 Cornell University Chip Satellite Team Invites Ham Radio Collaboration
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 149.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 29, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-149.03
Cornell University Chip Satellite Team Invites Ham Radio Collaboration
A group of Cornell University-developed, fingernail-sized satellites may travel to Saturn within the next decade, and as they flutter down through its atmosphere, they will collect data about chemistry, radia- tion and particle impacts.
Three prototypes of these chip satellites, named "Sprite," were mount- ed on the International Space Station during a recent spacewalk. The thin, 1-inch-square chips are mounted to the external Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-8) pallet, exposing them to the harsh conditions of space to see how they hold up and transmit data.
Zac Manchester at Cornell University explained that the chips transmit as beacons with 10 milliwatts of RF power at 902 MHz using MSK modu- lation (minimum-shift keying) with a chipping rate of 50 kbps. The Cornell team invites AMSAT satellite operators to collaborate with this experiment to determine conditions in which the low-power signal has been detected on the ground.
The Cornell ground station consists of a 18 dBi yagi with a GNU Radio and USRP receiver (http://www.ettus.com/products). A significant challenge is that the MISSE-8 pallet the chips are on is mounted on the anti-nadir side of the space station, facing away from the earth. The team is hoping to be lucky to catch some kind of reflection off the ISS structure.
Beyond being able to detect the signal on Earth, decoding the message requires signal processing. The chips all transmit on the same frequency, each with it's own PRN code. The Cornell team uses these codes to differentiate each one, as well as to provide signal proces- sing gain. At Cornell, data is being recorded and post-processed with a standard PC.
To track these chip satellites just use the ISS keplerian elements because they are mounted on the space station.
Mason Peck, Associate Professor Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University wrote, "Receiving the full sequence of data per se is not of interest, but the mere reception of it (a single digital bit, for us), indicates successful transmission. If you would like to serve as one of the lucky few to try detecting this signal, please follow up with Zac Manchester (zrm3@cornell.edu). We definitely welcome the collaboration of HAM operators."
More information be found at these sources: http://tinyurl.com/3fs5ks7 (spacemart.com) http://www.spacecraftresearch.com/blog
[ANS thanks Zac Manchester and Mason Peck at Cornell University for the above information]
/EX
I asked a similar question on their website, the response was that the sprites would all be on the same frequency. Their website says they will operate between 433 and 436 MHz.
Jeff Moore -- KE7ACY CN94
----- Original Message ----- From: "JoAnne Maenpaa" k9jkm@comcast.net To: "'Bill Ress'" bill@hsmicrowave.com; amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 7:29 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: KickSat - a personal spacecraft of your own in space
Will each Sprite have it's own frequency?
Since these Sprites are operating in the Amateur satellite bands, how will you license them? How will you handle the frequency coordination of these transmitters?
The information that Zac and his team provided to AMSAT News Service in May, 2011 reported that the Sprite prototypes that were deployed on the ISS operated with 10 milliwatts of RF power at 902 MHz using MSK modulation (minimum-shift keying) with a chipping rate of 50 kbps.
Copy of original release below ...
-- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm@amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-149.03 Cornell University Chip Satellite Team Invites Ham Radio Collaboration
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 149.03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD. May 29, 2011 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-149.03
Cornell University Chip Satellite Team Invites Ham Radio Collaboration
A group of Cornell University-developed, fingernail-sized satellites may travel to Saturn within the next decade, and as they flutter down through its atmosphere, they will collect data about chemistry, radia- tion and particle impacts.
Three prototypes of these chip satellites, named "Sprite," were mount- ed on the International Space Station during a recent spacewalk. The thin, 1-inch-square chips are mounted to the external Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-8) pallet, exposing them to the harsh conditions of space to see how they hold up and transmit data.
Zac Manchester at Cornell University explained that the chips transmit as beacons with 10 milliwatts of RF power at 902 MHz using MSK modu- lation (minimum-shift keying) with a chipping rate of 50 kbps. The Cornell team invites AMSAT satellite operators to collaborate with this experiment to determine conditions in which the low-power signal has been detected on the ground.
The Cornell ground station consists of a 18 dBi yagi with a GNU Radio and USRP receiver (http://www.ettus.com/products). A significant challenge is that the MISSE-8 pallet the chips are on is mounted on the anti-nadir side of the space station, facing away from the earth. The team is hoping to be lucky to catch some kind of reflection off the ISS structure.
Beyond being able to detect the signal on Earth, decoding the message requires signal processing. The chips all transmit on the same frequency, each with it's own PRN code. The Cornell team uses these codes to differentiate each one, as well as to provide signal proces- sing gain. At Cornell, data is being recorded and post-processed with a standard PC.
To track these chip satellites just use the ISS keplerian elements because they are mounted on the space station.
Mason Peck, Associate Professor Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University wrote, "Receiving the full sequence of data per se is not of interest, but the mere reception of it (a single digital bit, for us), indicates successful transmission. If you would like to serve as one of the lucky few to try detecting this signal, please follow up with Zac Manchester (zrm3@cornell.edu). We definitely welcome the collaboration of HAM operators."
More information be found at these sources: http://tinyurl.com/3fs5ks7 (spacemart.com) http://www.spacecraftresearch.com/blog
[ANS thanks Zac Manchester and Mason Peck at Cornell University for the above information]
/EX
_______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't 900 MHz only allocated for terrestrial use, worldwide? I know that there's no amateur satellite service allocation at 902 MHz...
George, KA3HSW
----- Original Message ----
From: JoAnne Maenpaa k9jkm@comcast.net To: Bill Ress bill@hsmicrowave.com; amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Mon, October 10, 2011 9:29:21 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: KickSat - a personal spacecraft of your own in space
Will each Sprite have it's own frequency?
Since these Sprites are operating in the Amateur satellite bands, how will you license them? How will you handle the frequency coordination of these transmitters?
The information that Zac and his team provided to AMSAT News Service in May, 2011 reported that the Sprite prototypes that were deployed on the ISS operated with 10 milliwatts of RF power at 902 MHz using MSK modulation (minimum-shift keying) with a chipping rate of 50 kbps.
Copy of original release below ...
-- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm@amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service
[snip]
Hi George,
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't 900 MHz only allocated for terrestrial use, worldwide? I know that there's no amateur satellite service allocation at 902 MHz...
The original Cornell Chipsat mission news release that mentioned they were using 902 MHz was not an amateur radio mission. Not sure what other radio service they qualified for. Cornell hoped that some "suitably equipped" amateur earth stations would receive their signals, hence their request.
-- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM k9jkm@amsat.org Editor, AMSAT News Service
At 05:49 AM 10/11/2011, JoAnne Maenpaa wrote:
Hi George,
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't 900 MHz only allocated for terrestrial use, worldwide? I know that there's no amateur satellite service allocation at 902 MHz...
The original Cornell Chipsat mission news release that mentioned they were using 902 MHz was not an amateur radio mission. Not sure what other radio service they qualified for. Cornell hoped that some "suitably equipped" amateur earth stations would receive their signals, hence their request.
Still seems a strange choice of frequency, given that GSM phones use these frequencies in many parts of the world.
73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com
--- On Mon, 10/10/11, Tony Langdon vk3jed@gmail.com wrote:
Still seems a strange choice of frequency, given that GSM phones use these frequencies in many parts of the world.
ITU Region 1 seems to be moving closer to permitting unlicensed low power use, RFID etc, around 915-921 MHz but as you say the rest is mobile phones.
Given there is no mechanism to command these Sprite ChipSats so they are only on over the USA the use of 902 MHz would seem inapropriate.
73 Trevor M5AKA
Aaah Trevor, you raise another important issue!
It is the convention (I can't cite the international rules here) that all communication/telemetry satellites have the ability to be commanded off. Clearly the Sprites don't presently have that capability.
Additionally, I don't believe that just because they are in the unlicensed bands, that they would be permitted to use those bands in space. But I'm not clear here. Perhaps an experimental license could be granted to operate in space by our FCC but that would only be good over the US. Again the command/control issue comes into play.
I have had several emails with Zac and he's very receptive to getting our comments. I also encouraged him to forge ahead while trying to understand some of these sticky issues. His concept surely would push the envelope of current Amateur communications and satellite "art" and that's worthy of this efforts.
What will be interesting is the reported 10 mw telemetry beacon being used by SRMSAT, since that's the EIRP the Sprite is planning to have. So a "real" test at that power level is eminent. Good luck on the launch!!!
Regards...Bill - N6GHz
On 10/10/2011 3:07 PM, Trevor . wrote:
--- On Mon, 10/10/11, Tony Langdonvk3jed@gmail.com wrote:
Still seems a strange choice of frequency, given that GSM phones use these frequencies in many parts of the world.
ITU Region 1 seems to be moving closer to permitting unlicensed low power use, RFID etc, around 915-921 MHz but as you say the rest is mobile phones.
Given there is no mechanism to command these Sprite ChipSats so they are only on over the USA the use of 902 MHz would seem inapropriate.
73 Trevor M5AKA
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
All,
just my 2 cents: I think the project is rather interesting and I would be willingly to sponsor it with my $300 (thats the number I've read to sponsor my own personal sprite), if -
and thats a big if - I am able to receive and decode the signal with my average equipped Oscar station.
Something like : Here is the Kepler & Frequency of the Sprite 'cloud'. Track it with your high-gain low-noise UHF setup, record what you hear and then use software provided to siff thru the data stream to look for your personal sponsored sprite, transmitting the message you've submitted. That would be a cool thing to do / to have and would win me over for sponsorship.
But to sponsor one and then just 'take their word for it' that its up there and transmitting ? Thats not what the hobby is about IMHO.
BTW: Here is a picture of a prototype, in case you haven't seen it : http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20118335-1/send-your-own-satellite-into-...
Andreas - VK4HHH
________________________________ From: Bill Ress bill@hsmicrowave.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, 11 October 2011 9:43 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: KickSat - a personal spacecraft of your own in space
Aaah Trevor, you raise another important issue!
It is the convention (I can't cite the international rules here) that all communication/telemetry satellites have the ability to be commanded off. Clearly the Sprites don't presently have that capability.
Additionally, I don't believe that just because they are in the unlicensed bands, that they would be permitted to use those bands in space. But I'm not clear here. Perhaps an experimental license could be granted to operate in space by our FCC but that would only be good over the US. Again the command/control issue comes into play.
I have had several emails with Zac and he's very receptive to getting our comments. I also encouraged him to forge ahead while trying to understand some of these sticky issues. His concept surely would push the envelope of current Amateur communications and satellite "art" and that's worthy of this efforts.
What will be interesting is the reported 10 mw telemetry beacon being used by SRMSAT, since that's the EIRP the Sprite is planning to have. So a "real" test at that power level is eminent. Good luck on the launch!!!
Regards...Bill - N6GHz
On 10/10/2011 3:07 PM, Trevor . wrote:
--- On Mon, 10/10/11, Tony Langdonvk3jed@gmail.com wrote:
Still seems a strange choice of frequency, given that GSM phones use these frequencies in many parts of the world.
ITU Region 1 seems to be moving closer to permitting unlicensed low power use, RFID etc, around 915-921 MHz but as you say the rest is mobile phones.
Given there is no mechanism to command these Sprite ChipSats so they are only on over the USA the use of 902 MHz would seem inapropriate.
73 Trevor M5AKA
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (8)
-
Andy Kellner -
Bill Ress -
George Henry -
Jeff Moore -
JoAnne Maenpaa -
Tony Langdon -
Trevor . -
Zac Manchester