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Aerospace Engineering Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Aerospace Engineering

A Software Defined Radio Communications System For A Small Spacecraft, Michael Hlas, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh Apr 2015

A Software Defined Radio Communications System For A Small Spacecraft, Michael Hlas, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

Software defined radios (SDRs) are poised to significantly enhance the future of small spacecraft communications. They allow signal processing to be performed on a computer by software rather than requiring dedicated hardware. The OpenOrbiter SDR (discussed in [1] and refined in [2]) takes data from the flight computer and converts it into an analog signal that is transmitted via the spacecraft antenna. Because the signal processing is done in software, the radio can be easily reconfigured. This process is done in reverse for incoming transmissions, which are received by the SDR and decoded by software. Figures 1 and 2 provide …


Creating A Low-Cost Radio For An Open Cubesat, Michael Wegerson, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh Apr 2015

Creating A Low-Cost Radio For An Open Cubesat, Michael Wegerson, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

A reliable communication system is key to the success of a CubeSat mission, allowing for data to be trans-mitted to the ground station and commands to be up-loaded to the satellite. To satisfy this need, the OpenOrbiter satellite (a 1-U CubeSat [1], being devel-oped with a target parts budget of under $5,000 [2]) is leveraging previously space-tested [3], low-cost trans-ceiver design which is based on the SI 4463 IC unit. This board design will be included in the publically available Open Framework for Educational Nanosatel-lites (OPEN) allowing others to modify, enhance and/or make use of the design in the future.


Update On The Progress Of The 1-U Open Cubesat Development, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh Apr 2015

Update On The Progress Of The 1-U Open Cubesat Development, Jeremy Straub, Ronald Marsh

Jeremy Straub

The OpenOrbiter program [1] is developing a low-cost framework for the creation of space-craft [2] by researchers and educators world-wide [3]. In line with the objective of enabling future educational use by others, educational assessment [4, 5] has been a key focus. Sever-al areas were assessed: students were asked what types of benefits they sought from their participation [6], assessment of benefit attain-ment is ongoing. Work on the development of a designs (See Figures 2 and 8) that can be used to build a spacecraft with a cost of under $5,000 [7] using primarily COTS parts and testing (see Figure …


Application Of Collaborative Autonomous Control And The Open Prototype For Educational Nanosats Framework To Enable Orbital Capabilities For Developing Nations, Jeremy Straub, Josh Berk, Anders Nervold, Christoffer Korvald, Donovan Torgerson Sep 2013

Application Of Collaborative Autonomous Control And The Open Prototype For Educational Nanosats Framework To Enable Orbital Capabilities For Developing Nations, Jeremy Straub, Josh Berk, Anders Nervold, Christoffer Korvald, Donovan Torgerson

Jeremy Straub

Prosperous nations enjoy the benefits of orbital remote sensing data products. The spacecraft that provide this imagery are, predominately, large and expensive, placing them out of reach of most small or developing nations. Small spacecraft, however, represent a new paradigm for remote sensing applications. A cluster of small spacecraft can be used to capture imagery which can be super-resolved to rival the performance of larger and significantly more expensive spacecraft (compared to the whole small spacecraft constellation). Alternately, the group can be spaced to provide higher temporal coverage. This paper presents work on three synergistic topics. First, it covers work …


An Open Prototype For Educational Nanosats: Increasing National Space Engineering Productivity Via A Low-Cost Platform, Jeremy Straub Feb 2013

An Open Prototype For Educational Nanosats: Increasing National Space Engineering Productivity Via A Low-Cost Platform, Jeremy Straub

Jeremy Straub

The Open Prototype for Educational NanoSats (OPEN) is poised to allow a dramatic increase in the number of students, worldwide, that have the opportunity to participate in hands-on spacecraft development. It is designed to facilitate the formation of CubeSat development programs via providing a publically-available set of spacecraft design documents, implementation and testing plans. These documents should allow the creation of a 1-U CubeSat with a parts budget of approximately $ 5,000. This allows spacecraft development to be incorporated in regular curriculum and supported from teaching (as opposed to research) funds.