DO-64

DELFI-OSCAR 64 (DELFI-C³)

Delfic3 ModelOn the 28th of April 2008 at 03:53 UTC the Delfi-C3 was succesfully launched with a PSLV launch vehicle. At 06:45 UTC the first signal was received by a radio amateur in California. At 11:55 UTC the satellite signal was acquired and decoded at the TU Delft groundstation, initial analysis showed the craft to be in excellent condition, all solar panels and antennas were deployed and the internal temperatures and voltages were within the ranges expected.

Mission

Test a new type of thin film solar cells in the space environment. In addition, the Dutch research institute TNO Science and Industry showed interest to join the initiative with an autonomous Sun Sensor using a wireless link for data transfer. A third new technology tested during the Delfi-C3 mission is an advanced high efficiency transceiver sized for application in pico- and nanosatellites.

Communications

Operational mode Radio 1 Radio 2
Basic 145.870 MHz 1200 Baud BPSK AX.25
housekeeping telemetry only
145.930 MHz 1200 Baud BPSK AX.25
housekeeping telemetry only
Science 145.870 MHz 1200 Baud BPSK AX.25
housekeeping & payload telemetry
145.930 MHz 1200 Baud BPSK AX.25
housekeeping & payload telemetry
Transponder Uplink: 435.570 – 435.530 MHz
Downlink: 145.880 – 145.920 MHz (inverting)
Beacon: 145.870 MHz CW

Orbital parameters

Name                 DELFI-C3
NORAD                32790
COSPAR designation   2008-021-H
Inclination (degree) 97.994
RAAN                 188.873
Eccentricity         0.0013611
ARGP                 268.356
Orbit per day        14.81519716
Period               1h 37m 11s (97.18 Min)
Semi-major axis      7003 km
Perigee x apogee     615 x 634 km
Drag factor          0.000387600 1/ER
Mean Anomaly         91.608

Downlink

145.870 MHz, CW (Beacon, 40 mW)

145.870 MHz, 1k2 BPSK AX.25 (primairy TLM, 400mW)
145.930 MHz, 1k2 BPSK AX.25 (backup TLM, 400mW)

145.880 – 145.920 MHz (inverted •Linear transponder, 400mW)

Modular antenna deployment boxes.

DO-64-Modular-Antenna-Boxes-01 DO-64-Modular-Antenna-Boxes-02

Emergency Mode: 2 tones (500Hz and 900Hz), modulated DSB onto the (suppressed) carrier, use USB to receive this signal. These tones themselves are modulated with 100Bd FSK each with raw payload data.

Delfi-C3 LaunchUplink

435.570 – 435.530 MHz (Linear transponder)

Call

DLFIC3

Status

Science mode, radio 1

Telemetry

Use rascal to decode the telemetry

QSL

Delfi-C3-QSL


Homepage and other references:

DelfiC3
Online rascal statistics
Delfi Space