Hardware is delivered, Cargo Review up next!

We are very sorry, we did not keep you updated on the latest developments. As the final days before delivery went in hand with the last days of the winter semester, a time of the year when students are very busy, we neglected our duty of posting updates. But there are good news, we are […]

Almost there!

As workload increased for the final development phase, we completely forgot to keep you updated – sorry for that. Many things have been achieved since our last post: We released the flight software, finished the USB interface test, passed the EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) test and submitted our flight safety data package for ESA safety review. […]

Programmatical Progress

This week was very successful on the programmatically part of the mission. We finally received approval from ARISS TE&S (Amateur Radio on the ISS Technical Evaluation & Support) to use the antenna and to get support for the operations. Additionally, on our way through the ESA safety process we completed Phase II. As we want […]

Vibration Testing

Today MarconISSta team members Martin Buscher, Jitendra Bhat and Alex Sullivan spent the day at Astro und Feinwerktechnik Adlershof GmbH for vibration testing of the LimeSDR and its housing. Vibration testing is used to simulate one of the loads the hardware will have to endure during launch. Upon arrival the team conducted a small functional […]

Temperature Test

This week the team conducted a temperature test of the LimeSDR flight hardware in a thermal chamber. The goal of the test is to demonstrate that the housing will not exceed safe surface temperature when ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst handles the experiment. There is an upper temperature limit of 45 ºC, but the team designed the […]

Touch temperature test

This week the team conducted the touch temperature test on the housing. The goal was to confirm that the housing will remain in a safe temperature range for the astronauts to handle once it is on the International Space Station. To accomplish this, the LimeSDR was secured in the housing and turned on for multiple […]

Housing delivery and desktop panel

This week the MarconISSta team received the finished, custom aluminum housing for the LimeSDR, and it looks great! Martin showed off the flight model with the LimeSDR inside and allowed the class to pass around the flight spare housing. The next order of business was to determine the best way to configure all of the […]

Housing fit-check

The custom aluminum housing for the LimeSDR completed its initial machining so we went for the first fit-check. Here we see the LimeSDR within the housing, connected a test antenna and USB powersource. In order to prevent injuries to astronauts, our experiment should not have any sharp edges, protrusions or corners. Also, the surface temperature […]

MarconISSta at ARISS face-2-face meeting

MarconISSta was presented at this year’s ARISS (Amateur Radio on the ISS) face-2-face meeting. This meeting by ARISS to update each other on current and future ham activities on the ISS. Since MarconISSta aims to use the ham antennas, we need approval and support from ARISS. Martin traveled to Rome to present our concept and […]

Back after the summer break

Universities usually experience decreased activity. Most of our team also took the opportunity to recharge the batteries. However, some things were developed in the past week. Housing The team around Connor (Brian, Jens, Max, Rishi) finalized the design of the housing. The top of the building includes a grid to increase the surface area and […]