Stellenbosch University
ZACUBE-1 is a student-developed CubeSat of CPUT (Cape Peninsula University of Technology), Cape Town, South Africa. Development of ZACUBE-1 commenced in early 2011. Its main payload is a high frequency (HF) beacon transmitter that will be used to help characterize the Earth’s ionosphere and to calibrate SANSA’s (South African National Space Agency) auroral radar installation at the SANAE¿IV base in Antarctica. ZACUBE-1’s ADCS was developed in a collaboration between F’SATI and ESL (Electronic System’s Laboratory) at Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
NASA-Catalog: 39417
Downlink
437.345 MHz FM 1k2 AFSK AX.25
Status
ACTIVE
Orbital Parameter
NORAD 39417 COSPAR designator 2013-066-B Inclination 97.770 RA of A. Node 305.324 Eccentricity 0.0062657 Argument of Perigee 20.739 Revs per day 14.78270765 Period 1h 37m 24s (97.40 min) Semi-major axis 7 013 km Perigee x Apogee 591 x 679 km BStar (drag term) 0.000130700 1/ER Mean anomaly 339.633
January 22, 2014
What better way to celebrate nearly two months on orbit than with the first image captured by TshepisoSat that shows the earth from space. What makes the image even more special is that, as mentioned before, the satellite is not stabilised in three-axes. Images are captured without any control of where the camera is pointing and so far images have either been of empty space or the sun.
The satellite was commanded from the ground station to switch on its camera and capture the image. The image was then transferred to the on-board storage and the camera turned off. The image was then downloaded from the satellite to the ground station.
© 2014 French South African Institute of Technology
Telemetry
2013-11-21 15:10:34.860 UTC: [47 Bytes KISS Frame (without CRC)] from 123456 to 012345: 1 > DC 0C 16 7A 61 63 75 62 65 30 31 2E 00 00 2A 96 2C 0B 13 2C 21 > 06 95 2C 0C 2E DC from 123456 to 012345: 1 > DC 0C 16 7A 61 63 75 62 65 30 31 2E 00 00 2A A9 2C 0B 12 2C 21 > 06 95 2C 0C 2E DC from 123456 to 012345: 1 > DC 0C 16 7A 61 63 75 62 65 30 31 2E 00 00 2A BC 2C 0B 0C 2C 21 > 06 95 2C 0C 2E DC
21.11.2013, 1510 UTC – first telemetry (DK3WN)
