TiungSat-1: The Mission
No longer operational, the TiungSat-1 satellite was Malaysia's first operational satellite and launched in 2000. The contract with SSTL included training a team of Malaysian space engineers.
TiungSat-1 mission objectives:
· Collection of imagery for environmental and meteorological use
· Digital S&F (Store & Forward) communications
· Technology demonstration
· Space science
· Amateur radio access
Digital Store & Forward Communications
The subsystem provided global, frequency-agile, communications for any form of digitized data: e-mail, voice-mail, scientific data exchange, fax, imagery, or even Internet mail for remote regions. The low cost and direct access offered by the TiungSat-1 microsatellite in orbit also made it ideal for use by scientists, engineers and students based in institutes, universities and even schools throughout the world.
DSPE (Digital Signal Processing Experiment)
The DSPE consisted of a TM320C31 low power DSP suitable for special or general purpose signal processing tasks on LEO satellites. The VHF scanner operated in the 140-150 MHz range. A built-in FSK decoder is used. The system was capable to detect signals from a pre-set signal strength threshold within selected bar. DSP could be used for processing audio transmission for rebroadcast.
CEDEX (Cosmic Ray Energy Deposition Experiment)
The objective of CEDEX was to characterize the TiungSat-1 orbit radiation environment in terms of the observed particle LET (Linear Energy Transfer) spectrum at the spacecraft. The primary sensor consisted of a 30mm x 30mm PIN diode detector 300 microns in depth, housed in a separate screened aluminium unit mounted on the CEDEX module box (three area PIN-diode detectors are mounted in a "telescopic" arrangement; hence, information pertaining to directions of the energy particles detected can be derived.). This was connected to a charge amplifier and a pulse-shaping circuit which, in turn, are connected to an event-driven, hardware-logic controlled pulse-height multi-channel analyzer. CEDEX was controlled autonomously by a CAN-microcontroller with its own data-storage RAM and built-in data-compression software. This sent data to an internal CAN-controller which formatted and sent them on to the primary OBC via the spacecraft's CAN (Controlled Area Network) bus. CEDEX is a multichannel analyzer with 512 channels and a 0.5 pC (picocoulomb) charge resolution. The instrument charge range was between 0.2 -24 pC, equivalent to a normal incidence particle LET range of about 60 - 7500 MeV cm2 g-1 (200,000 particles/s).
Experimental Microsatellite GPS, an SSTL/ESA collaboration.
An advanced 12-channel GPS receiver with two GPS patch antennas was installed for several objectives:
The instrument was primarily used for orbit and position determination and for precise onboard timing services. In parallel, the instrument was also employed for refractive ionospheric monitoring. The TEC (Total Electron Content) occultation observations of the instrument provided slant range measurements which could be converted into vertical profiles.
TiungSat-1 mission objectives:
· Collection of imagery for environmental and meteorological use
· Digital S&F (Store & Forward) communications
· Technology demonstration
· Space science
· Amateur radio access
Payloads
Digital Store & Forward Communications
The subsystem provided global, frequency-agile, communications for any form of digitized data: e-mail, voice-mail, scientific data exchange, fax, imagery, or even Internet mail for remote regions. The low cost and direct access offered by the TiungSat-1 microsatellite in orbit also made it ideal for use by scientists, engineers and students based in institutes, universities and even schools throughout the world.
DSPE (Digital Signal Processing Experiment)
The DSPE consisted of a TM320C31 low power DSP suitable for special or general purpose signal processing tasks on LEO satellites. The VHF scanner operated in the 140-150 MHz range. A built-in FSK decoder is used. The system was capable to detect signals from a pre-set signal strength threshold within selected bar. DSP could be used for processing audio transmission for rebroadcast.
CEDEX (Cosmic Ray Energy Deposition Experiment)
The objective of CEDEX was to characterize the TiungSat-1 orbit radiation environment in terms of the observed particle LET (Linear Energy Transfer) spectrum at the spacecraft. The primary sensor consisted of a 30mm x 30mm PIN diode detector 300 microns in depth, housed in a separate screened aluminium unit mounted on the CEDEX module box (three area PIN-diode detectors are mounted in a "telescopic" arrangement; hence, information pertaining to directions of the energy particles detected can be derived.). This was connected to a charge amplifier and a pulse-shaping circuit which, in turn, are connected to an event-driven, hardware-logic controlled pulse-height multi-channel analyzer. CEDEX was controlled autonomously by a CAN-microcontroller with its own data-storage RAM and built-in data-compression software. This sent data to an internal CAN-controller which formatted and sent them on to the primary OBC via the spacecraft's CAN (Controlled Area Network) bus. CEDEX is a multichannel analyzer with 512 channels and a 0.5 pC (picocoulomb) charge resolution. The instrument charge range was between 0.2 -24 pC, equivalent to a normal incidence particle LET range of about 60 - 7500 MeV cm2 g-1 (200,000 particles/s).
Experimental Microsatellite GPS, an SSTL/ESA collaboration.
An advanced 12-channel GPS receiver with two GPS patch antennas was installed for several objectives:
- Onboard generation of Keplerian orbital elements (NORAD experiment, this was first performed on PoSat)
- Onboard navigation, attitude, and timing services
- Refractive sounding of the ionosphere
The instrument was primarily used for orbit and position determination and for precise onboard timing services. In parallel, the instrument was also employed for refractive ionospheric monitoring. The TEC (Total Electron Content) occultation observations of the instrument provided slant range measurements which could be converted into vertical profiles.