Communication system for nanosatellites will help track Earth's ecology

MIPT engineers have created a control and communication system for nanoclass satellites with a mass of up to 10 kg, which are commonly referred to as cubesats. Spacecraft of this format will form a promising Russian constellation for near-Earth space observation, Earth remote sensing and communications.

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With its help it will be possible to solve various tasks: from monitoring forest fires to controlling the movement of large masses of fish in the ocean. The equipment can also be used in commercial satellite constellations, such as an automatic system for identifying maritime vessels.

Previously, large satellites weighing about 100 kilograms were put into orbit for such tasks, but their on-board systems are not suitable for more modern and compact vehicles. Therefore, there is a demand for miniaturized and cost-effective devices with a low mass. In addition, for different purposes, different speeds of information transmission from the satellite to the Earth station are required. For this purpose, the hardware must consist of several devices.

"We are creating special equipment for communication with spacecraft that operates in three bands. The first one is VHF. It is designed for emergency situations and allows us to contact the spacecraft, no matter what position it is in. At the same time consumes very little energy", - shared one of the authors of the project, a leading engineer of the laboratory of applied nanotechnology MIPT Sergei Lavrentiev.