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Missions

The first and foremost mission of ISTnanosat-1 is an educational one, being the “glue” that brings together students from different engineering programmes across our university in order to foster their enthusiasm for space science and technology, and confronting them with a number of interesting challenges that will contribute to complement their education.

Given this educational purpose, we set forth objectives for design, build, test, launch and operate a cubesat carrying aboard a scientific/technological/application payload.

Throughout the development of this project several possible payloads, executing different missions, were considered. These are next presented in reverse chronological order being the first the newest and most promising idea for a mission to be carried aboard the ISTnanosat-1. Indeed, for one or another reason every mission have been superseded by a new one that would likely be more interesting than the previous.


ADS-B

ISTnanosat-1 would be used for carrying out a feasibility study of the use of nanosatellites to receive the signals of the ADS-B system used in the monitoring of aircraft in areas not covered by terrestrial stations, like oceanic routes or remote areas.


HUMSAT

ISTnanosat-1 may contribute to enlarge HUMSAT constellation and therefore improving its coverage. HUMSAT project aims at providing a store-and-forward kind of communications service, particularly tailored to applications where terrestrial communications infrastructures are non-existent. Environmental monitoring in remote and/or inhabited areas is one of the typical scenarios to be covered by this project.


Behavior of mixed-signal ICs in Space

Study the effects of radiation and thermal variations in space environment for signal acquisition chips (high-precision, high-resolution ADCs) developed by UNINOVA with nano-technologies in mixed-signal ICs.


Flyby Anomaly

Unexpected velocity change of spacecraft after their gravitational assist when passing by the Earth.
Recently, there was a proposal to test the Flyby Anomaly using a small satellite [1]. It consists in determining the acceleration and know the perturbations affecting the satellite. Through the reception of GNSS signals and knowing very well the physical characteristics of the satellite, it would be possible to characterize such phenomenon. [1] O. Bertolami, F. Francisco, P.J.S. Gil, J. Páramos, 2012. "Testing the Flyby Anomaly with the GNSS Constellation", to appear in International Journal of Modern Physics D 21. (online ready) doi: 10.1142/S0218271812500356

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