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WG3K > ANS 05.08.24 17:32l 71 Lines 3766 Bytes #135 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS217.1
Read: GUEST
Subj: ROBUSTA-3A in Orbit
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<EA2RCF<LU9DCE<W0ARP<K7EK<KA1VSC<WG3K
Sent: 240805/1522Z 6872@WG3K.#SMD.MD.USA.NOAM LinBPQ6.0.24
When the long-delayed inaugural launch of the European Space Agencys
(ESAs) new Ariane 6 rocket finally occurred on July 7, it suffered an
upper stage failure that left some payloads in the wrong orbits.
Fortunately, before the anomaly developed, the Ariane 6 successfully
deployed ROBUSTA-3A, a satellite with an amateur radio payload. The target
was a 580 km circular orbit with an inclination of 96 degrees.
ROBUSTA-3A (a.k.a. “Méditerranée”) is a 3U cubesat, designed and built by
students and faculty of Université de Montpellier in southern France. Over
a decade in development, involving around 300 students from the University
of Montpellier and all over the world, ROBUSTA-3A will be its seventh
satellite developed entirely in-house, having learned much from the
development and launch of smaller ROBUSTA-1U satellites. The project has
offered hands-on training, engineering and scientific experience to the
next generation of space engineers and researchers.
*The Robusta 3A satellite is 3U, three CubeSat units. (Photo: Van Allen
Foundation)*
The satellites primary mission is weather observation, specifically to
track “Cevenol events.” These are intense storms and incredibly heavy rains
that cause extensive flooding, often in the form of flash floods, that hit
the plains and the foothills of southern France. Once considered “100-year
storms,” they have been occurring with greater frequency due to global
climate change. Most of the weather data is downlinked on a commercial
S-band microwave frequency.
“If the data we will be collecting improves the geographic and temporal
accuracy of weather forecasts for cévenol events, it would help authorities
give early warning to the population and allow rescue services to better
target the areas at risk,” explains Romain Briand, assembly integration and
testing manager at the University Space Center of Montpellier.
*Robusta-3A under development by Centre Spatial Universitaire de
Montpellier (CSUM)*
However, ROBUSTA-3A aims to do even more than chart water vapour from space.
The satellite carries an experimental Attitude Determination and Control
System (ADCS) that will seek to optimize solar panel exposure and correctly
aim sensors and microwave downlink antennas. Using a set of Sun sensors,
magnetometers, and reaction wheels in a pyramidal configuration, the system
should provide precise attitude control, especially during orbital
maneuvers.
The satellite will also employ a cold gas thruster propulsion system which
operates with solid iodine as propellant. This system will demonstrate
orbit maintenance, phasing, and lifetime extension of small satellite
missions, and could also help with end-of-life decommissioning and debris
mitigation.
As an extra mission, the CubeSat will test how computer memory from chip
manufacturer 3D PLUS withstands the radiation of space. This French company
specialises in highly-reliable electronic components and their computer
memory recently landed on the Moon as part of the Indias Chandrayaan-3
lander.
Finally, ROBUSTA-3A also carries a 9k6 GMSK AX.25 store-and-forward digital
system with a UHF transmitter output of up to three watts a very powerful
downlink! As the satellite is sill in commissioning, operating protocols
and uplink frequency have not yet been released. However, amateurs should
expect something similar to the FalconSAT-3 store-and-forward system that
was popular until that satellite deorbited in January of 2023. ROBUSTA-3A
is currently transmitting short telemetry bursts on its International
Amateur Radio Union (IARU) coordinated downlink frequency of 436.750 MHz.
[ANS thanks ESA, IARU, and the Space Center of the University of
Montpellier for the above information.]
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