SkyCube (satellite)
Crowdsourced CubeSat with cameras, radio messages, and a balloon.
SkyCube was an American crowdsourced CubeSat announced on Kickstarter on 14 July 2012 and successfully funded on 12 September 2012. It was developed and built in 2012–2013, completed flight integration at Nanoracks in late 2013, and launched aboard the Cygnus CRS Orb-1 flight on 9 January 2014. Deployed from the International Space Station on 28 February 2014, it is one of several crowdfunded satellites launched during the 2010s.
Quick Facts
- Mission type
- Earth imaging
- Operator
- Southern Stars
- Mission duration
- 60–90 days (planned)
- Spacecraft type
- 1U CubeSat
- Manufacturer
- Nanoracks
- Launch mass
- 1.3 kg / 2.87 lb
- Launched
- 9 January 2014, 18:07:05 UTC
- Launch rocket
- Antares 120
Facts from the source article.
Mission
SkyCube had three major mission components: broadcasting messages from its radio, capturing pictures from space via its three cameras, and deploying a large balloon. The radio emitted periodic beaconing pings containing 120-byte messages from Kickstarter backers, transmitted at 915 MHz using the AX.25 protocol at 9600 baud with BPSK modulation, with a callsign of WG9XMF. The three cameras were VGA resolution with lenses offering fields of view of 120°, 35°, and 6°, intended to take pictures of Earth from orbit; images would have been transmitted at 57.6 kbit/s, and Kickstarter backers chose when pictures were taken.
NOAA granted a 90-day imaging license on 1 February 2013. At the end of its mission, SkyCube would have deployed a 2 m balloon coated with reflective titanium dioxide, making it visible from the ground and increasing atmospheric drag to cause orbit decay within two weeks; inflation was to be triggered via a 4-gram CO2 canister. After deployment, initial communication attempts failed, but basic telemetry was eventually received indicating that at least one solar panel failed to deploy.
Subsequent commands sent to the satellite produced no response. The orbit did not decay as quickly as those of other CubeSats launched, suggesting less drag and supporting the conclusion that solar panel deployment was insufficient.
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