Project:HackSat One

HackSat One
Created	10/10/2011
Members	Flux, Samuel
Project Status	Awaiting Launch
QR code

Dev board for HackSat One

Radio testing with Samuel

HackSat One is a tiny satellite sprite, launching as part of the KickSat swarm. The sprite is powered by its own solar panel and is capable of broadcasting signals back to Earth. The launch is scheduled for spring 2014 as part of a NASA mission to resupply the International Space Station. There is a related project to build Hackney Space Centre. For the latest information see the mailing list.

Launch Delayed

To ensure the highest possible level of mission assurance and allow additional time to resolve remaining open items, SpaceX is now targeting March 30th for the CRS-3 launch, with April 2nd as a back-up. These represent the earliest available launch opportunities given existing schedules, and are currently pending approval with the Range.

See SpaceX site for more details.

Launch Schedule: Sun 16th March

• 08:41 Falcon 9 launch
• 08:44 Falcon 9 upper stage separation
• 08:51 Dragon capsule separation
• 08:57 KickSat deployment from Falcon 9 upper stage
• 09:47 KickSat powers on and begins transmitting telemetry

All times are UTC.

HackSat deployment from KickSat is scheduled for 08:57 (09:57 BST) on Tuesday 1st April. We won't be able to receive any signals from HackSat until after this deployment. The long delay in this deployment is at the request of Nasa to avoid interfering with ISS operations.

Our satellite is contained with the bigger KickSat. 128 sprites are loaded into it. It has the names of contributors engraved on it, including "London Hackspace". You can see a photo of the actual KickSat, complete with our engraving (we're on the bottom row, 4th from the right).

Software Payload

HackSat broadcasts a simple set of data on temperature, magnetic field and angular velocity. It will also broadcast the HackSpace URL: http://hack.rs

If you're interested in trying to receive the signal from HackSat (and the other KickSat sprites) yourself see setting up a ground station.

Hardware

Below, you can see a photograph of the dev board and dev kit. The sprite board itself is outlined in yellow, with the solar panel taking up most of the left-hand side. The boards beneath beneath the sprite are the TI LaunchPad and connecting board. Key components on the spite are:

• TI CC430F6137 microcontroller (red): 16-Bit MSP430, 32KB Flash, 4KB RAM, CC1101 Radio [datasheet]
• InvenSense ITG-3200 Gyroscope (orange) [datasheet]
• Honeywell HMC5883L Magnetometer (blue) [datasheet]
• TXC 7Z-26.000MDG-T Oscillator (purple) [datasheet]
• Nitinol antennas (extend off top right of photograph) [nitinol info]

For more detail on the sprite hardware, including EagleCAD layouts, see the KickSat Git repo.

NB. The dev board (pictured) has a different oscillator to that mentioned above.

Decal

Decal created by Nick Cramp.