HuskySat-1

Johnson Hall at University of Washington, Seattle, where HuskySat-1 was designed and controlled

HuskySat-1 is an artificial satellite designed at the University of Washington. It was launched by Cygnus NG-12 from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Launch Pad 0 on Wallops Island, Virginia to low earth orbit on November 2, 2019. It is a CubeSat, and will demonstrate onboard plasma propulsion and high gain telemetry for low Earth orbit that would be a precursor for an attempt at a larger CubeSat designed for orbital insertion at the Moon.[1]

The satellite was designed by Husky Satellite Lab, a registered student group, in Johnson Hall, and was controlled from there using three antennae installed on the roof.[2][3]

A pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) provides propulsion.[4] It is the first PPT to use sulfur as a fuel.[2]

Students at Raisbeck Aviation High School designed an onboard camera.[5][4]

The satellite will test an experimental 24 GHz data transmitter, after which it will become an amateur radio satellite operated by AMSAT.[6] The high data rate will enable much more data to be transferred during the 9- to 15-minute time windows the satellite is visible from the control station.[2]

HuskySat is the first satellite designed by students in Washington state.[5]

The satellite decayed from orbit on 12 April 2023.[7]

The slant in the waterfall is due to the Doppler shift of the signal as its elevation decreases at the end of its pass.
Audio recording of HuskySat-1 1K2 BPSK TLM (recorded with USB demodulator, 3 kHz width filter).
  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NASA2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference UWDaily was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hickey was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Geekwire was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference KOMO was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ARRL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "HUSKYSAT-1". N2YO.com. 12 Apr 2023. Retrieved 19 Aug 2023.