Nuriho KAIST Cube Satellite Successfully Achieves Two-Way Communication with Ground Station

Assigned Missions Including Ground Shooting with Small Earth Observation Camera

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The performance verification satellite carried into orbit by the Korean launch vehicle Nuri, the second to separate on the 1st, is the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) CubeSat 'Rendezvous.' According to the Ministry of Science and ICT and KAIST on the 3rd, this ultra-small satellite and the KAIST ground station successfully established two-way communication around 4:10 PM that day. The KAIST ground station had commanded changes to the power supply channel and system mode at 2:00 AM and 2:40 PM the previous day, and by analyzing the data received from the satellite, confirmed that it performed its mission normally.

Rendezvous is an artificial satellite developed by Professor Bang Hyo-chung's KAIST team (Department of Aerospace Engineering, Aerospace Systems and Control Laboratory). It has a rectangular cuboid shape, measuring 10 cm wide, 10 cm deep, 30 cm high, and weighing 3.2 kg. It was assigned missions such as capturing images of the ground with a small Earth observation camera and transmitting the captured images to the ground station at high speed via S-band. Communication with the ground station is conducted using ultra-high frequency/very high frequency (UHF/VHF) bands. It is reported that by utilizing UHF/VHF frequencies, data can be exchanged even when the satellite is not facing the Earth.