NG-14/ELaNa 31 Launch and Deployment Information

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Hi,

I am part of the team that built the Bobcat-1 Cubesat from Ohio University. I’m making this thread to centralize the information I have on the launch and deployment dates/info for all the satellites onboard (including ours).

Deployment Date (as of 2020-07-30): 16 November, 2020.

This list is missing some info, I will be updating it as I get more information from NanoRacks. The list of cubesats in this launch has changed multiple times recently, and the dust is still settling from that.

Satellites:

• Bobcat-1
  • Owner: Ohio University Avionics Engineering Center
  • DB Link: https://db.satnogs.org/satellite/99837/
  • IARU: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/formal_detail.php?serialnum=713
• SPOC
  • Owner: University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory
  • DB Link: Not yet in DB
  • IARU: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=664
• NEUTRON 1
  • Owner: University of Hawaii, Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory
  • DB Link: Not yet in DB
  • IARU: http://www.amsatuk.me.uk/iaru/finished_detail.php?serialnum=683
• Two LEMUR cubesats (unsure which)
  • Owner: Spire Global
• Unknown Cubesat
  • Owned by a Canadian University
• Unknown Cubesat
  • Owned by an Israeli University

Deployment Order (this should not change):

Bobcat-1 and SPOC deploy
[90 min pass]
NEUTRON 1 deploy
[90 minutes pass]
a Spire Global LEMUR
[90 minutes pass]
Canadian Cubesat, Israeli Cubesat, and the second LEMUR deploy

I will continue to update this thread as I get more information from NanoRacks and elsewhere.

Best,
Kevin

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Hi,

Here is some information on Bobcat-1:

• Baud rate at launch: 1200 baud

• Baud rate during normal operation: 9600 baud

• Baud rate during passes over OU Groundstation: 100,000 baud

• Beacons: We have a short and long beacon, described in the Kaitai Struct below.

• Beacon Periodicity: Configurable/variable. During LEOP, expect short beacons at least as often as every 30s.

• Frequency: 436.600MHz

• Modulation: GFSK at 1200/9600 baud, GMSK at 100kBd

• Protocol: AX100 Mode 5 (ASM+Golay), CSP at data layer.

• Callsign: W8PZS

I have uploaded a .zip here that includes several IQ recordings and a kaitai struct for decoding the beacons: https://aec.eecs.ohio.edu/sharing/6AddYQjUj

During passes over the OU Groundstation, we typically will initiate a FTP download of collected data. There is an example FTP download in the above zip, the content of the file download was the LSF Manifesto. The data we are downloading is essentially just messages from our NovAtel, and that format is described elsewhere online (see NovAtel’s website). During these high-baud-rate (100kBd) observations, the normal beacons will still be transmitted, but at the higher baud rate. There is also a mode implemented on the cubesat where we can request a burst of beacons, typically 10 beacons in a row with 400ms between bursts, but this is not always reliable and may not be used during actual operation.

Last thing, here is our mission patch:

Kevin