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FedSat is an Australian scientific microsatellite mission, a 58cm cube weighing approximately 50 kg. It was launched in early 2002 from Japan by Japan's National Space Development Agency. The purpose of FedSat is to: Establish Australian capability in microsatellite technologies Develop expertise necessary for sustaining those industries and profiting from them Test and develop Australian-developed intellectual property Provide a research platform for Australian space science, communication and GPS studies. FedSat was developed by the Cooperative Research Centre for Satellite Systems, which combines the resources and skills of 12 Australian organizations. Contributions from each of the partner organizations are doubled by the Commonwealth Government, under its Commonwealth Government's Cooperative Research Center?s Program. The total budget of the Centre is approximately ์ million over 7 years, with ฤ million of that allocated for the FedSat mission. Much of FedSat was developed in Australia by the CRCSS. Three of the six main payloads have been fully developed by the CRCSS, and the other three have been supplied by overseas organizations in consultation with the CRCSS. The satellite platform, the structure that houses and maintains the payloads, is being provided by overseas organizations. CRCSS engineers could have developed an Australian platform, but given the time available from project-start to launch, that was not practical. CRCSS opted to contract an overseas platform supplier, avoiding the need to reinvent established technologies. Payloads:
1. GPS Receiver: The GPS, Global Positioning System, is an American network of satellites that transmit radio signals containing time and orbit-position codes. GPS receivers decode the signals, and by comparing signals of up to 4 satellites with known positions, they can derive their own locations by triangulation. The system was designed for mainly military use, but now GPS provides many scientific and civilian applications.
2. NewMag: The NewMag magnetometer is a very sensitive and rapid-sampling device for measuring the strength of the Earth's magnetic field. Earth is like a big bar magnet, with magnetic field lines emerging from the poles and far out into space. FedSat's polar orbit crosses all these lines, so NewMag can effectively gain a window into the whole magnetosphere region. NewMag can also measure vibrations simultaneously with ground- based magnetometers, so investigating the dynamics of the magnetosphere (changes in it shape due to variations in the Sun), and study magnetospheric wave-propagation.
3. High performance computing: The FedSat high performance computing payload is the world's first use of reconfigurable computing technology in space. Reconfigurable computers permit change of their physical circuits via software control; new physical circuits can be installed into a reconfigurable computer module by remote command. For spacecraft, this technology means that satellites can be rewired without having to retrieve them.
4. Ka-band transponder: The FedSat Ka-band transponder is designed to handle the new experimental high- frequency and high-capacity Ka part of the radio spectrum. The transponder processes signals to and from the ground in the frequency band. The transponder incorporates CRCSS-designed Gallium Arsenide monolithic microwave circuits; FedSat will space qualify these for the first time.
5. Baseband processor The baseband processor provides on-board computer processing of the Ka- and UHF- band payloads. It has been designed and built by the CRCSS, to operate as a low power single modem with flexible operation. It will also provide the channel for satellite operations commands.
6. UHF communications payload: The Ultra High Frequency band payload will introduce a new type of packet data service for Low Earth Orbiting satellites to obtain environmental data. For example, ocean buoys may transmit their data using this means to orbiting satellites, which are retransmitted back to the lab for analysis.
7. CD ROM: FedSat also carries a compact disc mounted on the side, containing the audio messages members of the Australian public recorded to go into space from March to August 2000. The disc also contains a copy of the song From Little Things, Big Things Grow, by Paul Kelly, with kind permission of the writers (Kev Carmody/Paul Kelly) and publishers (Larrikin Music, Mushroon Records). Additional information available at "http://www.crcss.csiro.au/overview.htm" and "http://www.crcss.csiro.au/launch/launch.html"
[Summary provided by CSIRO]
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