Cubesat Simulator
The CubeSat simulator is a low cost satellite emulator that runs on solar panels and batteries, transmits UHF radio telemetry, has a 3D printed frame, and can be extended by additional sensors and modules.
The CubeSat simulator serves as a tool for academic education, public demonstrations and theory and design disciplines. It can be used in a classroom, lab or training setting to introduce the basics of satellite operations, or it can be used to teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) exercises. the CubeSat simulator model is shown on this page. The CubeSat simulator is a Raspberry Pi Zero-based, 3D printed, functional model of a 1U form factor CubeSat. It is designed to act, as closely as possible, as a CubeSat flying in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to demystify how satellites work.
The CubeSat simulator is a physical model of a 1U CubeSat, which can be great for visualization of an actual educational spacecraft. You can pass it around so others can feel and touch it. You can use it to discuss the requirements of an actual spacecraft, the differences between the simulator and a real CubeSat spaceflight model, and also the similarities.
The Cubesat simulator has the following features:
- Working solar panels and rechargeable batteries
- Multi-channel voltage, current, and temperature telemetry transmitted in the Amateur Radio UHF band
- Telemetry decoding using FoxTelem software or APRS software
- Payload microcontroller Raspberry Pi Pico and sensors
- Tape measure monopole, dipole, or SMA antenna
- Integrated Low Pass Filter
- 3D printed frame and solar panels
Currently, the CubeSat Simulator supports two telemetry modulation schemes: CW and 1200 bps AFSK AX.25. In both cases, the telemetry is encoded in AO-7 format. In the future, support for additional telemetry modulation schemes and telemetry formats can be added. One interesting thing to do in the future would be to implement the Data Under Voice (DUV) 200 bps FSK telemetry used by the AMSAT Fox satellites. This “Fox emulation mode” would allow the use of the FoxTelem software to decode the telemetry.
The CubeSat simulator comes in a rugged container containing:
- All components needed to assemble the simulator
- A turntable to simulate spinning in space
- A lamp to simulate illumination by the sun
- An RTL-SDR dongle to make a simple ground station to receive radio signals and decode telemetry
- Charger and spare batteries
Designed for educators, students, youth clubs, STEM programs, libraries/museums, amateur radio operators (Hams) and anyone interested in learning how real satellites work.
CubeSat Features
- 1U CubeSat form factor
- 3D printed frame
- Solar panels on six sides
- Rechargeable batteries
- Camera
- Raspberry Pi Zero single board computer and Pico microcontroller
- Six voltage and current sensors
- Electronic gyro (Rotation & pitch)
- Temperature/pressure/altitude sensor
- Five telemetry protocol modes
- Live telemetry on ham radio UHF (70cm)
- Extensible sensor grid with Qwiic connector
- RF Command and Control via radio
- Completely Open-Source
Ground Station
The CubeSatSim telemetry transmissions are captured by a ground station. Telemetry decoding is handled by the Open-Source AMSAT FoxTelem suite of applications. This set of tools provides a highly visual and audio sensory experience of live digital radio signals. The software runs on Windows, Linux, MacOS, and Raspberry Pi.
Telemetry Protocols
- APRS – Automatic packet reporting system
- FSK – Frequency shift-keying
- BPSK – Binary phase shift-keying
- SSTV – Slow scan TV
- CW – Continuous wave
