Integration and testing of mobile ground station for satellite communication
In 2011, Satellite Research Centre (SaRC) made history when their in-house developed satellite, the XSAT, was launched into orbit. The XSAT was Singapore’s 1st locally built satellite, and following the success of this satellite, SaRC has continued to design new satellites and as of 2020, SaRC ha...
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Format: | Final Year Project |
Language: | English |
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Nanyang Technological University
2021
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/148450 https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/handle/10356/140037 https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/handle/10356/139868 |
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Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
Language: | English |
Summary: | In 2011, Satellite Research Centre (SaRC) made history when their in-house developed
satellite, the XSAT, was launched into orbit. The XSAT was Singapore’s 1st locally built
satellite, and following the success of this satellite, SaRC has continued to design new
satellites and as of 2020, SaRC has successfully launched 9 operational satellites. These
satellites orbit around the Earth daily, performing the satellite missions sent to them via the
control stations.
In order to effectively communicate with these satellites, it is important that SaRC be
equipped with the technologies and systems capable of establishing stable connections for
satellite communications. With aims to enhance their ground station capabilities, SaRC
initiated 2 student projects in 2019 that focused on the creation and implementation of a
mobile satellite ground station. The intended outcome was for the constructed mobile ground
station to be deployed for future research and education purposes, allowing for more test
exercises to be conducted in addition to the current satellite missions at the existing ground
stations. The 1st project focused on a satellite tracking mechanism using an antenna rotator,
while the 2nd project focused on a transmitter and receiver system using software defined
radio. Hence, the goal of this project is to build upon the research findings from these 2
preceding projects, and integrate the results into the construction of a mobile ground station.
Using the information gathered from the previous studies, as well as analysis of the current
operations and functional systems in SaRC, a fully operational satellite tracking antenna
rotator system has been assembled at the end of this project, with its capabilities similar to
that of the existing ground stations but downscaled in nature.
Planned to work in conjunction with the antenna rotator system is a software defined radio
receiver system utilising the Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) modulation technique. This FSK
receiver system is intended to communicate with a transceiver currently deployed in an
upcoming cube satellite called SCOOB-I. With SCOOB-I planned to launch in a few years,
this receiver system is intended to prepare for its future missions. Using GNU Radio
Companion, a basic receiver system has been successfully implemented, with it being capable
of receiving transmitted data from the transceiver. Thus, the mobile ground station currently
has 2 operational systems that can be incorporated into a full setup, though more work will
need to be done in the future to improve the effectiveness and reliability of said systems. |
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