![]() ![]() The Nexus phones had only minor modifications. Yet, the nanosat apparently deorbited and burned up after six days along with its siblings. It also added solar panels, which were intended to keep the satellite operational for up to two weeks. The “Alexander” device featured a more advanced PhoneSat 2.0 design, sporting a faster, gyroscope-equipped Samsung Nexus S and adding a GPS receiver and two-way S-band radio. ![]() The PhoneSat 1.0 “Graham” and “Bell” craft incorporated largely unmodified HTC-built Nexus One smartphones linked to one-way radios. The PhoneSat 2.0 cost $7,000.Īll three PhoneSat satellites adopted a four-inch cube 1U CubeSat design. The two PhoneSat 1.0 devices cost $3,500 each - making them the cheapest satellites ever to reach orbit. By building the craft around Android Nexus smartphones, NASA sped production time and kept costs low. NASA Ames launched three PhoneSats aboard a test flight of the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket on April 21. Xiphos Technologies- sells a range of Linux-based “Q6” avionics boards aimed at the nanosat market. Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems - sells a variety of Linux-based “Intrepid” SBCs and “Endeavor” 3U and 6U nanosat craft, and recently won NASA contract to produce a Linux avionics computer for a “nano-launch vehicle.”Īndrews Space - manufactures a line of Linux-based CubeSat “Cortex” SBCs and avionics computers. NanoSatisfi’s ArduSat - Kickstarter-funded, Arduino-based 1U nanosat billed as “the first open platform allowing the general public to design and run their own space-based applications, games and experiments.” OpenCube Initiative - non-profit open source group with goal of standardizing CubeSat interfaces.Īalto-1 - an open source Linux-based nanosat design from Finland’s Aalto University.Ĭosmogia’s Dove-1 - 3U CubeSat nanosat built on Arduino boards and other COTS equipment, with successful deployment on the same Antares rocket that carried the NASA PhoneSats. Before we take a close look at the Android-based PhoneSat and STRaND-1 experiments, here are some other nanosat projects and products that involve typically open source Linux and Arduino platforms: This opens up space experiments to students and hackers around the world. Nanosats based on Android phones offer the further advantage of a standardized app platform for running experiments. ![]() In addition, nanosats are perfectly suited for monitoring space junk to protect other satellites and spacecraft. Both the PhoneSat and STRaND-1 projects were designed to deorbit and burn up after their missions were completed. Lunar, asteroid, and planetary expeditions are also a possibility.Īs for the growing crisis of space junk, nanosats have the advantage of being small and typically low orbit, and therefore easily and safely destroyed. Potential uses for nanosats include heliophysics studies, close-Earth observation, qualification of components for space flight, and science and technology education projects. Or they can deploy numerous satellites around the world for coordinated data collection. Instead of spending years shoehorning multiple features into expensive, larger scale satellites, governments, organizations, and private companies can quickly send up many more single-purpose satellites as the need arises. The miniaturization and increasing sophistication of Linux- and Arduino-based single board computers (SBCs), as well as the arrival of powerful, hackable Android smartphones, complete with cameras and I/O, enable organizations to quickly design and launch nanosats. ![]() Yet, it’s more than tight budgets that are driving the boom in nanosats. Even more savings are found at launch thanks to light weights and modest footprints, ranging from the size of coffee mugs to toasters. For space agencies, the nanosatellites’ simple designs, small sizes, off-the-shelf components, and frequently open source software have the advantage of lowering costs. Like the NASA and Surrey missions, many are using open source designs.Ĭollectively these projects are testing the feasibility of low-cost, low-weight satellites based on COTS components, pushing their limits under the intense cold and radiation of space and the vibration of launch. 25, is still orbiting, but has yet to phone home.ĭespite the risks of space, a growing number of organizations are developing tiny, low-cost nanosatellites built with Linux, Android, and Arduino gear. Meanwhile, the Android- and Linux-powered STRaND-1 nanosat, which was launched by the U.K.’s Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. Three Android-powered NASA “PhoneSat” nanosatellites deorbited and burned up in the atmosphere on April 27 after successfully completing their six-day mission. ![]()
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