VELOX-I Nano-satellite
VELOX-I is the first Singapore nanosatellite to operate in Low Earth’s Orbit (LEO). It is part of NTU’s Undergraduate Satellite Program, which provides an opportunity for engineering students to participate in a multidisciplinary hands-on space project.
Besides educational objective, VELOX-I also contributes to the nanosatellite research with its technology demonstration and scientific payloads.
Mission Objectives:
• To launch the first Singapore’s nanosatellite VELOX-I, which is designed, built, and operated by students from different schools in the College of Engineering, NTU.
• To acquire images of Earth and transmit them back to ground station. A narrow angle camera with tele-optics is used to provide high-resolution images of Earth from LEO.
• To carry out experiments relevant to technology demonstration.Payloads include: a vision system, a dual-FOV sun sensor.
• To piggyback launch a picosatellite (VELOX-PIII) for intersatellite communication experiment.
Dimensions | 100mm x 100mm x 340mm (VELOX-I), 60mm x 70mm x 30mm (VELOX-PIII) |
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Mass | 4088 grams (VELOX-I), 193 grams (VELOX-PIII), total 4281 grams |
Expected lifetime | 12 months (VELOX-I), 6 months (VELOX-PIII) |
Orbit | Sun-synchronous low earth orbit (LEO), 650 – 700 km altitude |
Attitude determination and control system | (VELOX-I) 3-axis stabilized and controlled with 1 GPS receiver, 2 IMUs, 1 dual-FOV sun sensor, 8 coarse sun sensors, 3 magnetic torquers and 3 RWs |
On-board data handling | Mainboard with 100MHz 8051 MCU, 2Gb SD card, UART and I2C data interfaces |
Communications | 9600bps BPSK downlink / 1200bps AFSK uplink, UHF & VHF dipoles |
Power subsystem | (VELOX-I) 4 deployable GaAs panels for 28.8W peak, 5200mAh Li-ion battery |
Structure | Al. 7075 chassis, with stainless steel/Ti-6Al-4V load bearing parts; spring-loaded separator, solar panel deployer, and optics extension mechanism |
Thermal control | Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) and battery heaters |
Payloads | Vision system with extended optics for 20m GSD, GPS payload for precision navigation experiment |
Ground segment | Ground station in NTU with UHF/VHF high-gain cross Yagi-Uda antennas |
![VELOX-I launch configuration VELOX-I launch configuration](/images/librariesprovider112/satellite/velox-i-launch-configuration4e92d49a-565c-43cb-b6ef-bc599ba47b13.jpg?sfvrsn=c5756324_5)
VELOX-I launch configuration
![VELOX-I after deployment VELOX-I after deployment](/images/librariesprovider112/satellite/velox-i-after-deployment468c59bf-a03b-4445-a011-2382af25cba4.jpg?sfvrsn=61087855_3)
VELOX-I after deployment
![Structure of VELOX-I Structure of VELOX-I](/images/librariesprovider112/satellite/structure-of-velox-i2a6203bc-187a-408d-b715-a974788c0bcb.jpg?sfvrsn=1610dfab_3)
Structure of VELOX-I
![Satellite under vibration test Satellite under vibration test](/images/librariesprovider112/satellite/v5cf20097c-001b-40dc-b6bd-e080ebc2ea85.tmb-listing.jpg?Culture=en&sfvrsn=2285cd80_2)
Satellite under vibration test
![Attitude determination system Attitude determination system](/images/librariesprovider112/satellite/v4.jpg?sfvrsn=a35932bc_11)
Attitude determination system comprises dual redundancy of MEMS IMU & GPS
![Power supply system Power supply system](/images/librariesprovider112/satellite/v33477086b-6d04-4f10-939a-3d81910e38f9.jpg?sfvrsn=907d0d82_8)
Power supply system with fault redundancy and peak power tracking capability