
KickSat: open source spacecraft project - jimsojim
https://github.com/kicksat
======
dolske
Hey, Kicksat! I backed the first launch on Kickstarter a few years ago -- it
was exciting when they finally launched, and a bit disappointing when it
didn't deploy the Sprites.

But it was a super fun opportunity to get involved with with tracking the
carrier satellite and decoding telemetry. And with a really inexpensive setup
based around a $20 software-defined radio dongle.

I blogged about here: [https://dolske.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/satellite-
radio/](https://dolske.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/satellite-radio/)

As a bit of a followup, I was successful in capturing and decoding a number of
its passes over the following weeks. Including what seems to have been the
last received signals from it, on 5/13/2014:
[https://groups.google.com/d/msg/kicksat-
gs/U_svX4f2xY8/StfEl...](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/kicksat-
gs/U_svX4f2xY8/StfElv6xtREJ) Shortly after that it burned up upon reentering
the atmosphere, likely over Africa.

AIUI the Kicksat-2 re-flight is close to launching; the last Kickstarter
update said it missed the upcoming (September) OA-5 launch to ISS due to a
last-minute issue with a radio license. _fingers crossed soon!_

~~~
elkos
If need be SatNOGS could prove handy to receive data right?

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harperlee
I was wondering if it really was a good idea to spread so many little things
in orbit, and was subsequently very happy to read this in the paper linked by
jimsojim:

    
    
        Due to their extremely low ballistic coefficient, 
        the Sprites are Expected to remain in orbit for only 
        a few days before reentering and burning up in the 
        atmosphere, alleviating debris concerns.

~~~
ProblemFactory
> I was wondering if it really was a good idea to spread so many little things
> in orbit

Something I've been wondering: why are all small cubesats designed as stand-
alone satellites that are detached from a launcher? Why not instead build one
big satellite, with shared solar panels and a deorbit engine, and sell "shelf
space" for numerous small scientific modules that remain attached to it?

~~~
chris_va
Most of the small sat stuff isn't for science work. Commercial entities want
to reorient on demand, manage their own coms and antenna direction, etc.

What you describe is a good idea, and how most older sats work (just not
modularized).

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kartikkumar
Lots of open-source initiatives going on in the (small) satellite world at the
moment. We're hopefully going to be releasing an online platform for
preliminary design and trade-off analysis in the next few months. I know of a
few other companies that are working on open-sourcing different parts of the
technology stack. Predicting New Space to look quite different in another 5
years, with hopefully next to no barriers to entry.

~~~
planteen
Do you have any examples of open source initiatives you are excited about?

I used to work in small sat. Two open source projects that were exciting to me
when in the industry: [http://cosmosrb.com/](http://cosmosrb.com/)
[https://cfs.gsfc.nasa.gov/](https://cfs.gsfc.nasa.gov/)

~~~
kartikkumar
Great links

I founded an open-source library for orbital mechanics during my PhD, which is
still going strong: [https://github.com/tudat](https://github.com/tudat)

We're developing a new set of modular libraries based off of Tudat:
[https://github.com/openastro](https://github.com/openastro). We're also
building an open search engine for satellite subsystems:
[https://satsearch.co](https://satsearch.co).

Some other interesting open-source stuff going on:

\- [https://librespacefoundation.org](https://librespacefoundation.org)

\- [http://www.kubos.co](http://www.kubos.co)

\- [https://github.com/esa/pykep](https://github.com/esa/pykep)

\- [https://gmat.gsfc.nasa.gov](https://gmat.gsfc.nasa.gov)

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nbadg
On a tangential note, I was happy to see that they're using Solidworks files
within git. There are precious few examples of this "in the wild", and after
guiding my previous (small, <20-person) company to using git for hardware
version control, I always get a bit happy seeing other projects doing the
same.

Git gets a bad rap with binary blobs like Solidworks files because merge
conflicts are extremely opaque, but that's really not much worse than anything
else you've used as a mechanical engineer (at least not in my experience).
And, unlike other options -- like the litany of built-in solutions that are
"integrated" (if you can call it that) with the CAD program itself -- you get
the benefit of branching and sandboxing. Really the only downside (from my
perspective) is that you have to be very careful about communicating who is
working on what, and being absolutely meticulous about sizing subassemblies in
a way that minimizes work conflicts. Beyond that, the biggest hiccup is that
Solidworks assembly files are rather... poor abstractions... and that changes
to individual files within them will result in changes to the assembly file,
even if the assembly itself never changed [1].

Tools like openscad get a lot of love from software engineers, but
programmatic definition of geometry like that is just orders of magnitude less
productive than, for example, the Solidworks UI. I think the primary reason
they get as much appreciation (aside from using a familiar interface to
software devs, namely code) is their compatibility with source control and
collaborative work, which is in just a profoundly abysmal state with
mainstream CAx tools. The CAx world is in dire need of a software-independent,
merge-friendly formats.

Note that STL, IGES, STEP, etc don't count; they're package independent, but
only transfer the "compiled" final geometry of the part, and not the history
("source code") you used to create it, so they're essentially immutable
snapshots. That makes them great for sending a release to manufacturing, but
utterly unusable if there's any design left to do.

[1] This is a result of the assembly file also storing a "compiled" version of
the final assembly geometry, in addition to the various rules -- Solidworks
calls them "mates" \-- that define the relationships between the parts. So if
you change the geometry in any of the parts, the assembly file changes, even
though none of the mates did. Very frustrating.

------
jimsojim
Also, check out the paper here:
[https://zacinaction.github.io/docs/KickSat_SmallSat.pdf](https://zacinaction.github.io/docs/KickSat_SmallSat.pdf)

~~~
danielvf
This is incredible!

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optforfon
So are there are any cool applications?

Maybe I'm having a lack of imagination... but I have no idea what I'd do with
one even if I wasn't constrained by size. Even on the ISS they seem to have
run out of interesting things to do (last I heard they were growing lettuce in
space...). Just wondering if anyone has got any cool ideas

~~~
kartikkumar
> last I heard they were growing lettuce in space...

And that is not interesting ... why? Growing food in space is an incredibly
fascinating area of research and vital for human spaceflight beyond cis-lunar
space. Additionally, micro-gravity offers a unique opportunity to study the
core mechanisms for growth, with the necessary spin-off of helping develop
more robust crops back on Earth.

~~~
7952
Yes, it is fascinating and eminently useful for space exploration. The whole
domain is a fascianting optimisation problem. Do you use natural light, and
require a large surface area. Or is it more efficient to use electricity and
have a larger volume fo growing space?

I would love to know if you could grow creeping vines in space, maybe around
strands of led lights.

------
ef4
Fitting into a bulk launch with hundreds of other tiny craft makes the hardest
part -- getting into low earth orbit -- relatively affordable. Once you're
there, by being small and patient you can gradually lift your orbit using
slow-and-steady methods like solar sails or electrodynamic tethers.

------
chrissnell
I wrote a payload controller in Go for a high altitude balloon. Like KickSat,
it included a native KISS/AX.25 implementation along with an APRS library for
sending and receiving most packet types. It was my very first Go project and
as such, it's pretty dreadful and embarrassing to review but it did work:

[https://github.com/chrissnell/GoBalloon](https://github.com/chrissnell/GoBalloon)

I even wrote a curses-based flight control console for it:

[https://github.com/chrissnell/gophertrak](https://github.com/chrissnell/gophertrak)

------
algorithm314
Also there is an open source cubesat: [https://upsat.gr/](https://upsat.gr/)

~~~
elkos
Hey UPSat member here!

Getting ready to share some good news on the project in the coming couple of
days regarding the successful integration to it's launch system and some
details on the launch and delivery to ISS.

------
zacinaction
Hi Everyone,

This is Zac from KickSat. I'm glad there's interest in our project. We have
KickSat-2 almost ready to go. It was supposed to launch this summer but got
held up by the FCC (long story - not our fault). We're currently working with
NASA to get on another launch, hopefully in the next 6 months or so. If anyone
has any questions, feel free to reach out by email (not hard to find if you
look for me on GitHub) or find me on twitter (@zacinaction).

\- Zac

~~~
elkos
Zac I think I can speak from the whole team of the Libre Space Foundation that
you are doing great work.

If LSF can assist you in any way possible (like SatNOGS access, don't hesitate
to ping us)

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deanclatworthy
What is the point of having thousands of these things floating around?
(Serious)

~~~
beberlei
Same q, and what about the risk of these hitting other spacecrafts?

~~~
JshWright
They are very light, with a significant surface area, relative to their size.
They were supposed to be deployed in a fairly low orbit, and would have re-
entered the atmosphere in a few days.

------
JoeDaDude
Those folk interested in receiving telemetry signals from this and similar
satellites may be interested in SATNOGS [1], the DIY Satellite Ground Station,
likewise open source. [1] [https://satnogs.org/](https://satnogs.org/)

~~~
elkos
I would love to receive data from kicksat using the SatNOGS groundstation
network

------
JshWright
KickSat was launched in 2014 (piggybacking on the SpaceX CRS3 ISS resupply
mission). The launcher failed to deploy the sprites and eventually re-entered
the atmosphere.

------
wslh
The main cost of this type of initiatives is sending them to space. In this
case they were awarded by the NASA but will cost millions otherwise.

Other open software software (not updated for two years) that was used for
three nano satellites is here
[https://github.com/satellogic/canopus](https://github.com/satellogic/canopus)
.

~~~
mirashii
Millions is a bit high for the cost of a cubesat launch. A number of places
estimate 1U cubesat launch prices as low as $40k, but probably 1U-3U you can
expect to pay low hundreds of thousands.

~~~
wslh
Yes, It is not on the millions but on $ 60k per kg according the Satellogic
CEO [1]. The millions number is if you want to launch a constellation of
satellites.

[1] [http://www.clarin.com/sociedad/Hoy-espacio-Manolito-
satelite...](http://www.clarin.com/sociedad/Hoy-espacio-Manolito-satelite-
argentino_0_1033696695.html) (spanish)

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nshm
Arduino probably won't stand radiation for a long. In case people interested,
in Russia there is a crowdfunded project running to send a space probe to the
moon.

~~~
garaetjjte
[http://www.atmel.com/products/rad-hard/rad-tolerant-
devices/...](http://www.atmel.com/products/rad-hard/rad-tolerant-
devices/default.aspx)

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fitzwatermellow
Congrats! Stunning animation of the orbital deployment ;)

What data are you planning to collect from this cubesat network?

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mkagenius
Why is there a gyro? for proper sunlight to the solar receiver?

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iamgopal
How to Launch nano sats ?

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andrewfromx
this going to let us “listen” to signals that have traveled lightyears much
better than ever before. i think we’ll find there is life (intelligent)
everywhere you look. that the universe is literally infested with life
everywhere you look once you look correctly. And the notion that humans are
the only intelligent ones around we'll be like the earth is flat.

~~~
andrewfromx
i.e. the real space travel is not elon musk bigger and bigger rockets to go
further and further into space. We are already IN space. WAY out there. The
earth is a spaceship. The real space travel is just listening to all the
signals comes to us _better_.

