Session
Weekend Poster Session 2
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
The Olin Satellite + Spectrum Technology and Policy (OSSTP) Group was founded at Olin College of Engineering to explore real-world, project-based learning with apprenticeship-styled educational experiences in satellite communications. In 2019, OSSTP was awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Cubesat Ideas Lab Grant for the Space Weather Atmospheric Reconfigurable Multiscale Experiment (SWARM-EX) mission in collaboration with five other institutions (CU Boulder, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Western Michigan, and University of Southern Alabama) to develop and launch three CubeSats. This mission aims to serve as a pathfinder demonstration of swarm operations at separation distances of 1-1000 km using differential drag and onboard propulsion. SWARM-Ex will also showcase key technologies and address scientific questions related to the evolution of equatorial ionization (EIA) and equatorial thermospheric anomaly (ETA by including a FIPEX neutral Oxygen sensor and a Langmuir Probe1. As part of the SWARM-Ex project, a team of Olin undergraduates, along with Prof. Lohmeyer, have designed, built, and tested an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Ground Station to support small satellite telemetry and command operations between 435 - 470 MHz. This station will first serve as an integral component of the SWARM-Ex communications network, enabling students to assist with downlinking science data for the mission and uplinking control sequences. The station will support small satellite missions of different universities and interference research in the future. This paper documents the overall design, including a breakdown of the transmit and receive chains and the tracking mechanisms, interfaces, testing, and lessons learned. The goal of this paper is to document the build of the Olin ground station to aid in the buildout of other university ground stations.
SSC23-P3-19 Poster
UHF Ground Station for Satellite Communications: The Design, Build, Test, and Lessons Learned
Utah State University, Logan, UT
The Olin Satellite + Spectrum Technology and Policy (OSSTP) Group was founded at Olin College of Engineering to explore real-world, project-based learning with apprenticeship-styled educational experiences in satellite communications. In 2019, OSSTP was awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Cubesat Ideas Lab Grant for the Space Weather Atmospheric Reconfigurable Multiscale Experiment (SWARM-EX) mission in collaboration with five other institutions (CU Boulder, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Western Michigan, and University of Southern Alabama) to develop and launch three CubeSats. This mission aims to serve as a pathfinder demonstration of swarm operations at separation distances of 1-1000 km using differential drag and onboard propulsion. SWARM-Ex will also showcase key technologies and address scientific questions related to the evolution of equatorial ionization (EIA) and equatorial thermospheric anomaly (ETA by including a FIPEX neutral Oxygen sensor and a Langmuir Probe1. As part of the SWARM-Ex project, a team of Olin undergraduates, along with Prof. Lohmeyer, have designed, built, and tested an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Ground Station to support small satellite telemetry and command operations between 435 - 470 MHz. This station will first serve as an integral component of the SWARM-Ex communications network, enabling students to assist with downlinking science data for the mission and uplinking control sequences. The station will support small satellite missions of different universities and interference research in the future. This paper documents the overall design, including a breakdown of the transmit and receive chains and the tracking mechanisms, interfaces, testing, and lessons learned. The goal of this paper is to document the build of the Olin ground station to aid in the buildout of other university ground stations.
