LODESTAR UnB

THE ALFACRUX MISSION

On April 1st, 2022, the AlfaCrux CubeSat was launched by the Falcon 9 Transporter-4 mission, the fourth SpaceX dedicated smallsat rideshare program mission, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida into a SSO at 500km. Financed by the Government of the Federal District of Brazil through the Federal District Research Support Foundation (FAPDF), the AlfaCrux is a radio amateur and educational mission to provide a hands-on experience to students and professors in the complete process of developing and operating a space mission. Specifically, the team members have designed and are now operating and observing the behavior and performance of the AlfaCrux CubeSat on orbit. Moreover, the AlfaCrux mission is providing a unique experience in the learning process of radio electronics, antennas, digital communications, and radio amateur activities. As an additional goal, MSc. and PhD students from Electrical, Mechatronics, Mechanics, Production and Aerospace Engineering will test and demonstrate on orbit software defined radio experiments to perform ionospheric scintillation analysis and a data collect system from sensors in the ground.

The package routing solution will allow forwarding of received messages back to Earth to support communication and messaging between radio amateurs (digital QSO), store it on-board, and transmit it to the ground station. Telemetry data collected is available through internet, or under request, and can be used for several applications: study of different methods for low-data rate communication, characterization of interference sources, atmospheric propagation effects, communication capability in terms of data rate, and link performance in terms of bit error date (BER) and signal to noise ratio (SNR).

The passages are monitored through the LODESTAR command-and-control ground station (PT2ENE) with the support of the radio amateur community. The telemetry information is updated daily and can be seen through the online AlfaCrux Mission Control Platform making easier and immediate for all users to see and understand the meaning of the beacons.

Welcome to the AlfaCrux project and come with us to increase terrestrial and space situational awareness via satellite communication links.

BEHIND THE NAME: THE MEANING OF ALFACRUX

The name AlfaCrux is after the Alpha Crucis star, the brightest star in the southern constellation Crux (the Southern Cross), and among the brightest stars in the sky. The motivation to choose AlfaCrux as the mission’s name comes from the fact that the Southern Cross is the best-known constellation of those we can see in the southern hemisphere. It has a special importance in navigation and orientation, being known since the ancient Greeks time.

The Alpha Crucis star appears in the Brazilian flag, and in the Brazilian coat of arms. It is a synonymous of guide, reference, and consequently responsibility and excellence. In this sense, it summarizes the general goals of this space mission: become a reference of excellence and dedication, and an example to be followed as an approach for the advance of the space activities in the new space era.

Mission Control Platform

The AlfaCrux Mission Control platform is part of an innovative framework under development by the AlfaCrux team to assist the development and operation of nanosatellites. By innovative framework we mean a new architecture for improving and strengthening education in the broad area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). It is another contribution of the AlfaCrux team to deliver solutions for in-orbit data processing and management; new approaches for attitude determination, control, and reconstruction; space weather analysis and impact on UHF communication links; prognoses and satellite health management, among others. The management, processing, and analysis of all this information, along with the ground infrastructure, come together in the development of Digi-AlfaCrux, the digital twin version of the AlfaCrux.

It also makes it easier and immediate for all users to see and understand the meaning and purpose of the AlfaCrux downlink signal in accordance with the amateur-satellite service. All frames available online are properly associated with the call sign responsible for the information.

The AlfaCrux telemetry data is free of charge and openly distributed, but if you used the AlfaCrux data on your research and studies, please don’t forget to cite us! Citation for telemetry viewer data can be found here.

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COMMUNICATION LINK INFORMATION

The AlfaCrux team at the University of Brasilia informs that the AlfaCrux satellite project, an educational and technological demonstration mission in the area of telecommunication, is in full compliance with the national regulatory framework for telecommunications. The project's Coordination complied with all procedures in the National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) for usage of orbit and spectrum resources as a Brazilian satellite, having the Agency complied with all necessary procedures in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and officially requested the frequency coordination to the IARU. We would like to reinforce that the frequency band coordination with the countries identified by ITU is concluded, and that on November 1st, 2022, the BR IFIC 2983 was published confirming that the AlfaCrux frequency assignments was properly recorded in the ITU Master Register under Article 11 of the Radio Regulations. Moreover, the applications that are under development in this project are fully in accordance with the radiocommunication and telecommunications services associated to the operation of these frequency bands. The AlfaCrux team would like to thank Sir Hans P. Blondeel Timmerman (PB2T), IARU Satellite Advisor, for providing the AlfaCrux coordination letter on July 5, 2022.

We also inform that on July 27, 2022, 01:56 UTC, the AlfaCrux changes to nominal mode, and it is now starting the payload commissioning in orbit. The main services are still not active, only the transmission of beacons with telemetry packets at 437.100 MHz, GMSK modulation, 4800 bps, and circular polarization. Additional information will be updated on this website, the official page of the mission, including details for the correct use of the services by the radio amateur community in the future after finishing the LEOP. Wanna know what is going on at the AlfaCrux control center? Check our mission planner for more information!

RECENT ACTIVITIES

One of the main motivations for carrying out the AlfaCrux project is to provide educational and scientific benefits in the context of small satellite missions. It is a radio amateur and educational space mission. An opportunity for theoretical and practical learning about technical management, systems design, communication, orbital mechanics, development, integration, and operation of small satellites. The need for training and allocation of human resources for better management and technological innovation in the space sector is a critical demand in our country. Space activities need to be established in a sustainable model in which higher education, both undergraduate and graduate, plays a fundamental and essential role. From the perspective of the university, the space mission creates powerful opportunities to learn and paves the way between the classroom environment and the everyday life experience. The AlfaCrux team is committed with the improvement of data connectivity and data intelligence, two important keywords in a modern world. Consequently, this mission represents an important and strategic step in the consolidation and strengthening of our domain in the development and operation of critical technologies and of restricted access in satellite missions.

In this context, we kindly invite you to take a moment of your time and check our recent activities and achievements!

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