AAUSAT-II (Aalborg University CubeSat no 2), is the second student-built

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...

built and operated by students from

Aalborg University Aalborg University (AAU) is a Danish public university with campuses in Aalborg, Esbjerg, and Copenhagen founded in 1974. The university awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and PhD degrees in a wide variety of subjects within humanities ...

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. It was launched 28 April 2008 05:53:51 UTC from

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on a

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites ...

(PSLV) launch vehicle. AAUSAT-II carries a

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sensor.

Educational objective

The primary purpose of construction of satellites at the University of Aalborg is to give the students engineering capabilities beyond what is normally achieved within a masters program.

History

Student satellite activities at Aalborg University (AAU) started in 2003 as a result of AAU's involvement in the first pure Danish research satellite, Ørsted, which was successfully launched in 1999. AAUSAT-II's predecessor was

AAU CubeSat AAU CubeSat was a CubeSat built and operated by students from Aalborg University in Denmark. AAU CubeSat was launched on 30 June 2003 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on a Russian Rockot launch vehicle. The satellite was alive for two and a half ...

which was constructed in the period 2001-2003 and was launched 30 June 2003. The project started in the summer 2003. The construction of AAUSAT-II began in 2005.

Operations

After the launch on 28 April 2008, AAUSat-2 beacon was received at Cal Poly University in California but

two-way Two-way or Two Way may refer to: * " 2-Way", single by rapper Lil' Romeo * Two-way, Cincinnati chili topped on spaghetti * "Two Way" (KT Tunstall and James Bay duet), 2016 See also * * * * 3-Way (disambiguation) {{Disambiguation ...

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communications could not be achieved as it turned out that AAUSat-2 was transmitting at a lower level than anticipated. After upgrades to the ground station were completed, fully functional two-way communication were achieved and continued with normal operations until May 2009 after a year of successful operation. The ground station has remained in operation and beacons are received on a regular basis and AAUSat-2 is still considered operational - although heavy tumbling is observed (December 2009). Beacons are still received on regular basis in March 2011. In addition, AAUSat-2 does receive and acknowledge commands from ground and log files has been requested and received. Due to the very high tumbling (more than 2.5 Hz) it has not been possible to decode log files. Below is a snapshot of the radio communication. On left side is a beacon, next a request for log is issued and AAUSat-2 reply with a transmission of the logfile. Notice the high tumbling rate. In March 2012, the AAUSAT-II mission was officially retired by the project — but the CubeSat is still up and running.

Mission definition

AAUSAT-II consists of several sub-systems: * ADCS: Attitude Determination and Control System * CDH: Command and Datahandling System * COM: Communication System * EPS: Electrical Power System * GND: Ground Station * MCC: Mission Control Center * MECH: Mechanical System * OBC: On-board Computer System * P/L: Payload System Technical Facts:

Amateur radio information

* Callsign: OZ2CUB * Up/downlink: 437.425 MHz AFSK & FSK * Bit rate: 1200-9600 bit/s (1200 as standard mode) *

AX.25 AX.25 (Amateur X.25) is a data link layer protocol originally derived from layer 2 of the X.25 protocol suite and designed for use by amateur radio operators. It is used extensively on amateur packet radio networks. AX.25 v2.0 and later occupies t ...

FM CW TLM

References

External links

Official historic homepage

Launch campaign homepage
{{Orbital launches in 2008 Student satellites Aalborg University Spacecraft launched in 2008 CubeSats