What can you measure and what are your limits when orbiting in space? Learn about what physical quantities you can measure and what types of sensors you can buy or build. We cover the 5 essential design limits as well: power, bandwidth, resolution, computing... and legal limitations. Explore what you can play with using your own personal satellite.

Radio spectrum for commanding and recording from our satellites is a shared resource with subtle hurdles. We walk the path originally paved by AMSATs to discuss the steps and licensing needed to set up and operate both a command uplink and a data download station and network. Find out how playing nicely with others maximizes your ability to get your data down.

Want to build your own satellite and launch it into space? It’s easier than you may think. The first in a series of four books, this do-it-yourself guide shows you the essential steps needed to design a base picosatellite platform—complete with a solar-powered computer-controlled assembly—tough enough to withstand a rocket launch and survive in orbit for three months. Whether you want to conduct scientific experiments, run engineering tests, or present an orbital art project, you’ll select basic components such as an antenna, radio transmitter, solar cells, battery, power bus, processor, sensors, and an extremely small picosatellite chassis. This entertaining series takes you through the entire process—from planning to launch. Prototype and fabricate printed circuit boards to handle your payload Choose a prefab satellite kit, complete with solar cells, power system, and on-board computer Calculate your power budget—how much you need vs. what the solar cells collect Select between the Arduino or BasicX-24 onboard processors, and determine how to use the radio transmitter and sensors Learn your launch options, including the providers and cost required Use milestones to keep your project schedule in motion

"Project book: living past launch"--Cover.

La 4e de couverture indique : "Whether your picosatellite is watching the Earth or gazing at the stars, you need to know what you're sensing. This do-it-yourself guide explains what you can measure---and the constraints on those measurements---when you're orbiting the Earth. Learn exactly what physical quantities you can measure, and how to plan your sensor loadout. The perfect follow-up to DIY Satellite Platforms (our primer for designing and building a picosatellite), this book takes you beyond just flying a camera in space and shows you what data you can gather and play with using your own personal satellite. Learn about all the sensors you can select for your mission; get acquainted with key electronic communications protocols; I2C, TTL, SPI, analog, and digital; find out how much more your instruments can "see" when they're above the atmosphere; Understand how to calibrate sensors and how to pick the signal out of the noise; determine the optimal data acquisition rate for your available bandwith; [and] look at off-the-shelf sensor hardware and CPU choices (such as Arduino)"

What can you measure and what are your limits when orbiting in space? Learn about what physical quantities you can measure and what types of sensors you can buy or build. We cover the 5 essential design limits as well: power, bandwidth, resolution, computing... and legal limitations. Explore what you can play with using your own personal satellite.