Successful satellite communications test at Wallace Astrophysical Observatory
Early this morning, Joe Figura (XVI, ‘17) and AeroAstro and EAPS Professor Kerri Cahoy performed a satellite uplink beacon test this morning at Wallace Astrophysical Observatory, with assistance from EAPS Senior Lecturer Amanda Bosh. As the culmination of a year-long SuperUROP project on enabling optical communication for CubeSats, Figura mounted a panel of bright green LED beacons to a motorized telescope mount borrowed from 12.409 Hands-On Astronomy. A custom link to the telescope allowed Figura to track a research CubeSat in a Low Earth Orbit across the sky during its 10-minute transit over Wallace. The satellite was collecting images during the passage; preliminary analysis of the satellite images suggests that the ground-to-satellite beacon uplink was successful. This proof-of-concept project will allow low-cost LED arrays to be used instead of laser uplink beacons, which have regulatory restrictions. The uplink LED beacon is imaged by the satellite and its location is used to help the satellite precisely track and and point at the ground station toward future downlink optical communications capability. The work was part of the MIT SuperUROP class. The team also thanks Northop Grumman for supporting the CubeSat optical communications technology development effort, and MIT Lincoln Labs for sponsoring this project.
Successful satellite communications test at Wallace Astrophysical Observatory
Early this morning, Joe Figura (XVI, ‘17) and AeroAstro and EAPS Professor Kerri Cahoy performed a satellite uplink beacon test this morning at Wallace Astrophysical Observatory, with assistance from EAPS Senior Lecturer Amanda Bosh. As the culmination of a year-long SuperUROP project on enabling optical communication for CubeSats, Figura mounted a panel of bright green LED beacons to a motorized telescope mount borrowed from 12.409 Hands-On Astronomy. A custom link to the telescope allowed Figura to track a research CubeSat in a Low Earth Orbit across the sky during its 10-minute transit over Wallace. The satellite was collecting images during the passage; preliminary analysis of the satellite images suggests that the ground-to-satellite beacon uplink was successful. This proof-of-concept project will allow low-cost LED arrays to be used instead of laser uplink beacons, which have regulatory restrictions. The uplink LED beacon is imaged by the satellite and its location is used to help the satellite precisely track and and point at the ground station toward future downlink optical communications capability. The work was part of the MIT SuperUROP class. The team also thanks Northop Grumman for supporting the CubeSat optical communications technology development effort, and MIT Lincoln Labs for sponsoring this project.