UBC Orbit is an engineering student design team dedicated to the design, development, and operation of nano-satellites known as CubeSats. The team is currently building ALEASAT, an Earth observation satellite that can be used by radio amateurs to support disaster relief operations. With support from UBC, the Radio Amateurs of Canada, and the European Space Agency’s Fly Your Satellite! Programme, we are in the process of building and testing our satellite with an aim to launch it in a few years. We have more than 50 members with varying levels of expertise in engineering, science, and project management. If you are interested in learning more, check us out at https://www.ubcorbit.com/
ECE student can find themselves involved in many subteams of ALESAT:
Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS)
The AOCS team is in charge of determining and stabilizing the orientation of the satellite as its primary goal. The secondary goal is to point the satellite at desired locations to capture images. The positioning and orientation of the satellite is determined using a variety of sensors. Gathered data is then fed into a control system that triggers actuators to adjust the orientation.
On-Board Computer (OBC) and Command and Data Handling (CDH)
The CDH team is essentially the brain of the satellite. It handles scheduling and executing commands from the ground station, compiling satellite-wide data, and monitoring and responding to any system failures. The CDH team develops custom firmware for the on-board computer’s microcontroller to fulfill these functions and uses FreeRTOS as a lightweight operating system kernel.
Electrical and Power Systems (EPS)
The EPS team is responsible for planning the power budget of the satellite and ensuring that there is always ample power. To do so, the team must run simulations of our orbit to see if the power intake is sufficient for the satellite’s power consumption, create a dynamic power model, and conduct regular testing on the battery module and solar panels.
RF Communications (COMMS)
The COMMS team creates the radio-frequency (RF) communication link between the satellite and ground station. We learn and apply microwave engineering, RF circuit design, digital signal processing and digital communication theory to bring this link into fruition. We also work with Professor David Michelson and his Radio Science Lab to develop satellite communication testbeds to design and verify a reliable link such as emulating doppler shifts and pathloss, power-amplifier testing, verifying occupied channel bandwidths and more! If you’re interested in these areas, you are looking to get hands-on experience with RF simulation tools, spectrum analyzers, vector network analyzers and software-defined radios. The COMMS team has a spot for you.
If you are interested in joining UBC Orbit, please visit our website and social media, and join our in person or online information sessions during the recruitment period!
Website: https://www.ubcorbit.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ubcorbit/?hl=en
