Speaker
Description
The development of radio frequency software and hardware for nanosatellites is often beyond the expertise, financial capability, and regulatory knowledge of many developers. This is especially true for Amateur satellite frequency allocations above 2.4 GHz, for academic groups, or those developers located outside the USA, due to ITAR restrictions. As a result, Amateur satellite software and hardware development is a historically USA centered activity, characterized by limited access and reliance on obsolete technologies by entities outside the USA.
To address this gap, we present a new Canadian open-source initiative called Modular CubeSat Radio (MCR), a GNU Radio compatible, modular SDR designed for small satellite applications, designed and developed by the University of Victoria Centre for Aerospace Research, with funding from Amateur Radio Digital Communications.
The initiative consists of the creation of a state of the art, globally available, affordable, easy to manufacture CubeSat RF system with flight heritage and the possibility to be developed for use on any spectrum assigned to the Amateur satellite service by an average academic CubeSat developer or hobbyist.
Capitalizing on the flexibility and reconfigurability of software defined radio hardware compatible with GNU Radio, the strictly open hardware and software MCR consists of a core module featuring a short wave SDR based on the Hermes Lite 2, an outreach camera, a computer system, and up to four interchangeable transverter modules on a common template. These are connected by a robust bus in a PC104 form factor. In addition, the MCR also features GNU Radio flowgraphs for common RF uses (TT&C, digipeater, telemetry beacon etc.)
Further to the ecosystem, a full technology demonstrator with the SDR, computer, camera and modules for HF and VHF operation is being developed, to demonstrate the system on Skya’anaSat, the University of Victoria’s 3U CubeSat which will fly in SSO in 2025 as part of the Canadian Space Agency’s CUBICS program. This mission is expected to yield flight heritage for the MCR, and serve as the first OSCAR designated Canadian satellite, making long-lasting, Canadian contributions to historically underrepresented members of the Amateur satellite community on a global scale.
| Talk Length | 30 Minutes |
|---|
