Any intel on cryptosat?

Heard about this project Satellite tracking - Cryptosat

is the norad number and TLE a secret? They provide a tracking page with pretty interface but I can find nothing about it - searching ‘crypto’ or ‘cryptosat’ here or satnogs db comes up empty handed. There’s docs on the api, a simulator, etc.

Conveniently they do orbit propagation in the frontend (using SGP4 in the browser, old hat, but nevertheless it’s cool). Thus their javascript sources reveal the TLEs:

    const ISS_TLE = [
      '1 25544U 98067A   22357.56376573  .00009640  00000-0  17942-3 0  9996',
      '2 25544  51.6419 118.4508 0005698 179.4554 285.1029 15.49550321374554'
    ];

    const CRYPTO1_TLE = [
      '1 52761U 22057AF  22356.77347150  .00003204  00000-0  18130-3 0  9994',
      '2 52761  97.5340 109.0374 0010896 222.1353 137.9042 15.13730895 31919'
    ];

    const CRYPTO2_TLE = [
      '1 52761U 22057AF  23086.33553366  .00007115  00000-0  38501-3 0  9994',
      '2 52761  97.5353 202.6397 0010567 258.5907 101.4138 15.14912560 46225'
    ];

    const iss = new Satellite(universe, 0, 'iss', ISS_TLE[0], ISS_TLE[1]);
    const crypto1 = new Satellite(universe, 1, 'crypto1', CRYPTO1_TLE[0], CRYPTO1_TLE[1]);
    const crypto2 = new Satellite(universe, 2, 'crypto2', CRYPTO2_TLE[0], CRYPTO2_TLE[1]);
    const gsnetwork = GroundStationNetwork.load(universe,
      require('@cryptosat/cryptosim/data/rbcNetwork'));
    const mainService = new MainService(universe);

The NORAD ID 52761 is followed in SatNOGS DB by ION SCV-006 (99394). Their satellite “crypto2” seems to be at a similar location like “ION SCV-006 (99394)” right now. Satellite “crypto1” might be in a similar orbit, we would have to plot those TLEs. It would be interesting to investigate the TLEs to see if they are just re-distributed from space-track.org as their website suggest.

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Thank you so much!

I did try popping open the debug console on the tracking page looking for anything obvious and it’s over my head :smile:

Cryptosat seems to be a hosted payload on ION SCV-006 (not a separate satellite)

This mission will also include the in-orbit demonstration of two third-party
hosted payloads:

  • A prototype nanosatellite developed by Cryptosat for secure cryptographic
    applications such as electronic voting, trusted random beacon, and
    verifiable delay enforcement for smart contracts.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2022-05-25/d-orbit-launches-its-sixth-ion-satellite-carrier-mission

According to https://www.cryptosat.io/ cryptosat-1 was launched on May 25th 2022, which matches the launch date of ION SCV-006.

According to Yahoo είναι μέρος της οικογένειας εμπορικών σημάτων Yahoo cryptosat-2 was launched on Jan 3 this year, so the cryptosat-2 tle on their track page is definitely incorrect. Not sure why they have decided to fake the tle, maybe they wanted a placeholder before the launch and then forgot to update the tle in the months that have passed since the launch.

Jan 3 was the Transporter 6 launch, which was discussed in SpaceX F9 Transporter-3 - 2022-01-13 15:25UTC

This launch included ION SCV-007 GLORIOUS GRATIA and ION SCV-008 FIERCE FRANCISCUS so my guess is that cryptosat-2 also is not a satellite, but another hosted payload on one of these satellites.

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Indeed, cryptosat-2 is also a hosted payload:

Italian firm D-Orbit is flying two of their ION tugs on this mission. ION SCV-007 (Glorious Gratia) and ION SCV-008 (Fierce Franciscus) will carry a variety of spacecraft and hosted payloads for customers. Spacecraft are onboard from from Astrocast, AAC Clyde Space, NPC Spacemind, SAASST, and Tel Aviv University. Hosted payloads include a SWIR camera for returning customer IAC, a propulsion system for Genergo, and prototype satellite hardware for Cryptosat.

Source: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/01/spacex-transporter-6/

ION Satellite Carrier - Wikipedia also lists cryptosat-1 and cryptosat-2 as hosted payloads. It does not specify whether cryptosat-2 is on 007 or 008.