Project:HackSat One
| HackSat One | |
|---|---|
| Created | 10/10/2011 |
| Members | Flux, Samuel |
| Project Status | Awaiting Launch |
| QR code | |
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 Schedule: Mon 14th April
The launch is due just before ten in the evening London time (UTC+1). The following schedule shows the rough timings in UTC:
- 20:58 Falcon 9 launch
- 21:01 Falcon 9 upper stage separation
- 21:08 Dragon capsule separation
- 21:14 KickSat deployment from Falcon 9 upper stage (estimate - TBC)
- 22:04 KickSat powers on and begins transmitting telemetry (estimate - TBC)
All times are UTC.
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.
