On the 6th of December 2019, Alba Orbital made history as they broke the world record for most PocketQube satellites deployed in-orbit. Alba Orbital, the Scottish-based PocketQube manufacturer, successfully launched six pico-satellites from New Zealand on Rocket Lab’s 10th Electron flight, ‘Running out of fingers’. Included in this historic launch was Hungary’s first picosatellites, SMOG-P & ATL-1, developed by faculty and students at the Budapest University of Technology & Economics (BME) - the leading technological university in Hungary.
WHAT ARE POCKETQUBES?
Advancements in the miniaturization of electronic technologies that enabled the development of the smartphone, has revolutionised society. For instance, the example of the smartphone empowered the average person to have a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips, democratizing access to information on a global scale. This same driving force of technological miniaturization, known as ‘Moore’s Law’, has enabled the development of the ‘PocketQube’ - a satellite small enough to fit in your pocket. As Tom Walkinshaw, Founder & CEO of Alba Orbital notes, ‘The PocketQube revolution is almost like going from the mainframe era of computers to the age of information with democratized access to the internet. It’s the same thing for space - PocketQubes are democratizing access to space.”
PocketQubes (PQ) are highly miniaturized satellites, one eighth the size of a CubeSat, comprising of one or more cubic units of 5cm with a maximum mass of 250g per unit or ‘P’. The original concept was proposed in 2009 by professor Bob Twiggs as a solution to further reduce the costs and development time involved with satellite development, widening the doors of space access for small organisations to develop their own space program.
HUNGARY’S FIRST PICO-SATELLITES
Following the successful launch of Hungary’s first satellite in 2012, MASAT-1, a new group of students led by Dr András Gschwindt, honorary associate professor of BME’s Department of Broadband Infocommunications & Electromagnetic Theory, set out for a new challenge - to develop Hungary’s first picosatellites; SMOG-P & ATL-1.
Left to right: SMOG-P 1P PocketQube (5x5x5cm); ATL-1 2P PocketQube (5x5x10cm)
According to team leader, Dr Gschwindt, the team had decided to develop pico-satellites as the reduced form factor inherent with the PocketQube standard would greatly reduce both development time and economic costs. Dr Gschwindt and his team at BME have been active developers of PocketQubes since they started in 2014 and have since developed three PocketQubes - SMOG-1, SMOG-P and ATL-1.
PocketQubes integrated in AlbaPod Deployer prior to launch. (Left to right) 2P ATL-1, 1P FOSSASAT-1, 1P SMOG-P & 1P TRSI-1.
ATL-1 and SMOG-P were successfully put in-orbit via Alba Cluster 2, and have been performing beyond expectations in-orbit. SMOG-P has broke records as the most successful 1P PocketQube mission to operate in space, as the satellite continues to report valuable data on man-made electrosmog pollution in a way never done before. The project has been so impressive that Dr Robert Twiggs, the professor who first proposed the idea of 5 cm pico-satellites, had congratulated Dr Gschwindt’s team on their mission success, asking them to keep him posted on their future activities.
Brendan Gully Photography: Launch of Alba Cluster 2, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (6 December, 2019)
Following the success on their PocketQube launch with Alba Orbital, BME university’s Senate unanimously supported the establishment of a space engineering master program at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics - the preparations are currently ongoing, and the training is expected to start in the autumn of 2021.
SMOG-1 & SMOG-P - The Pocket-sized satellites analysing electrosmog pollution
SMOG-P is Hungary’s first 1P PocketQube, measuring at 5x5x5cm, developed as part of an academic programme at BME. The development of SMOG-P started as far back as 2014. The team consists of students supervised by University professors from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics (VIK) of BME. Since kicking off the project in 2014, several bachelor and master theses, scientific publications and PhD researches have contributed to the success of SMOG-P. On the topic of using PocketQubes as an educational tool, Dr Gschwindt highlights that ‘These satellites were designed and built as part of the academic program where teachers and students often learned together. This is a great starting point from which to introduce space engineer training.”
The SMOG team formed of Lecturers and Students from BME University, Hungary.
The team had been working on the development of SMOG for years, as they prepared the structure to survive the harsh environment of space. Discussing the challenges of getting to orbit, Gábor Géczy, the teams’ electronics engineer, explains the difficulty they had in securing a launch for their SMOG PocketQube prior to their collaboration with Alba Orbital:
‘We nearly finished SMOG in 2017, but it was hard to find a way to start the mission in space. There were no prepared launch services and ejecting structures for this new tiny structure called "PocketQube", unlike those that already existed and were commonly used to deploy CubeSats for years. Finally, we found an opportunity. In September 2019, we carried the Proto-Flight Model named SMOG-P to Scotland, where we integrated it to the deployer [AlbaPod] of Alba Orbital. This was the last time we saw our tiny satellite which weighed only 183 grams (6.46 oz) during the integration’.
PocketQube integration at Alba Orbital’s Glasgow-based lab. Pictured from left to right: Dr. Levente Dudas (SMOG team), Julian Fernandez (FOSSA Systems) & Paul Kocyla (ACME)
The 1P PocketQube satellite, ‘SMOG-P’, is named after ‘electrosmog’ as a reference to its primary goal - to analyse the electrosmog emitted into space. ‘Electrosmog’ is man made RF radiation that can cause interference in LEO satellites. The ‘P’ at the end of the picosats’ name stands for ‘precursor’, as SMOG-P is the first out of the two SMOG satellites to be launched, making it a precursor of the mission.
The primary payload featured in both SMOG-1 and SMOG-P is the spectrum monitoring system in the digital video broadcasting television (DVB-T) frequency band on the Low Earth Orbit (LEO), developed with the aim of gauging levels of artificial electromagnetic pollution in the upper atmosphere. SMOG-P has performed exceptionally well in this task, already having recorded well over 2000 measurements. “The measurement data from SMOG-P allowed us to map out the electrosmog coverage of the Earth as it continuously measures and analyses the electromagnetic radiation emitted by electronic devices,” said András Gschwindt.
You can see the interactive map of electrosmog pollution as measured by SMOG-P for yourself over at this link!
3D map about electromagnetic pollution levels measured by SMOG-P around Earth (Picture 1)
3D map about electromagnetic pollution levels measured by SMOG-P around Earth (Picture 2)
The secondary mission of the SMOG satellites is to measure the total ionizing dose with suitable field effect transistors (FETs) on-board. This makes it possible to estimate the operational lifetime of the satellites. As an additional payload, SMOG-1 also features a special magnetic hysteresis material mounted on the side panels below the solar cells to decrease the lifespan of the orbit and minimize the time during which the satellite acts as space debris.
When questioned on what the most innovative aspects about the SMOG satellites applications were, Head of the SMOG project, Dr Gschwindt noted that ‘SMOG-P has a double innovation: It has been the world’s most successful 1P PocketQube mission operating in space, and it is recording manmade electrosmog measures never done before’. He went on to add that ‘Our development, launched in December 2019, is in orbit and remains active. After seven months of operations based on SMOG-P measurements, we were able to do the World electrosmog map in the terrestrial TV band’.
Orbit simulation of SMOG-P around Earth
ATL-1 - Hungary’s first private satellite measuring at 5x5x10cm
At the same time as developing and launching the SMOG satellites, the BME team also launched the ATL-1, which is the first Hungarian 2P PocketQube (5x5x10cm).
2P ATL-1 pictured next to coin for size comparison.
ATL-1 is Hungary’s first commercial satellite developed by the SMOG team in collaboration with the Advanced Technology of Laser (ATL) and was designed to test thermal insulation materials for batteries in zero gravity and extremely low temperatures. This satellite also features the DVB-T based spectrum monitoring system as SMOG-1 & SMOG-P.
FUTURE AMBITIONS FOR THE SMOG TEAM
SMOG Team members holding PocketQube Models, including Dr András Gschwindt (center) and Dr Levente Dudas (right)
Seeing the success the team have enjoyed following their launch of the SMOG-P & ATL-1 PocketQubes on Alba Cluster 2, we caught up with the team to ask more about their future ambitions and what they have planned going forward:
What are your hopes about the future of PocketQubes within the space industry and for the future of scientific space research?
‘PocketQubes are cheaper than the 1U cubesats but their realization is a big challenge. So it is not believable to be part of the education. But they are open for scientific/industrial applications if the background can help their realization e.g to buy a bus system’
Have you got any future PocketQube missions planned for the future?
‘We are hoping to develop one or two more, but we would like to utilise the 2P (5x5x10cm) or 3P (5x5x15cm) sizes for future missions.’
How did you hear about Alba Orbital and would you consider using their launch services for future missions?
‘We found them online and we are very satisfied with their service. We are currently hoping to find sponsors to help fund us for our next launch. We would like to use Alba Orbital’s service in our future projects. Alba Orbital helped us to get our small PocketQube satellites SMOG-P and ATL-1 into orbit in December 2019. They have also contributed, from an administrative and technical point of view, to these successful missions. They are working hard to bring their partners' devices into space. Our satellite developer team is grateful to the communicative and cooperative young team of Alba for contributing to our success, SMOG-P and ATL-1 are still working fine and sending the scientific measurement results from space.’
If you would like to reserve a slot to launch your PocketQube, please feel free to get in touch at contact@albaorbital.com. More information available here.