TurkSat-3USat is a Turkish

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

nanosatellite A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ca ...

developed by the Space Systems Design and Test Laboratory and Radio Frequency Electronics Laboratory of

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical universit ...

(ITU) in collaboration with the Türksat company along with Turkish Amateur Satellite Technology Organization (TAMSAT). It was launched on 26 April 2013. Started with a protocol signed on 29 November 2010, TurkSat-3USat is a follow-up project based on the

ITUpSAT1 ITUpSAT1, short for Istanbul Technical University picoSatellite-1, is a single CubeSat built by the Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Istanbul Technical University. It was launched on 23 September 2009 atop a PSLV-C14 satellite l ...

mission, which was launched on 23 September 2009.

Launch and orbit

TurkSat-3USat was launched as a secondary payload on 26 April 2013 at 04:13:04 UTC atop a

Long March 2D The Long March 2D (), also known as the Chang Zheng 2D, CZ-2D and LM-2D, is a Chinese two-stage orbital carrier rocket mainly used for launching LEO and SSO satellites. It is manufactured by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SA ...

satellite launch vehicle from the Launch Area 4/South Launch Site 2 of

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC; also known as Shuangchengzi Missile Test Center; Launch Complex B2; formally Northwest Comprehensive Missile Testing Facility (); Base 20; 63600 Unit) is a Chinese space vehicle launch facility ( spa ...

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert ( Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast ...

, China. Further payloads on this flight were: *

Gaofen 1 Gaofen 1 () is a Chinese high-resolution Earth observation satellite, and the first of the Gaofen series satellites. History The civilian CHEOS (China High-resolution Earth Observation System) satellite program was proposed in 2006 and rec ...

, (

CNSA China National Space Administration (CNSA; ) is the government agency of the People's Republic of China that is responsible for civil space administration and international space cooperation, including organizing or leading foreign exchanges ...

), China *

NEE-01 Pegaso NEE-01 ''Pegaso'' (, "Pegasus") is an Ecuadorian technology demonstration satellite, and Ecuador's first satellite launched to space. Built by the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency (EXA), it is a nanosatellite of the single-unit CubeSat class. ...

, (

EXA A metric prefix is a unit prefix that precedes a basic unit of measure to indicate a multiple or submultiple of the unit. All metric prefixes used today are decadic. Each prefix has a unique symbol that is prepended to any unit symbol. The pre ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

* CubeBug-1, (

INVAP INVAP S.E. is an Argentine company that provides design, integration, construction and delivery of equipment, plants and devices. The company operates in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and deliver ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

TurkSat-3USat was placed into a Sun-synchronous

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never m ...

at an altitude of . It orbits 2-3 times a day over Turkey. The satellite's mission duration is expected to be at least three years.

Spacecraft and payload

TurkSat-3USat is packed in a three-unit

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSat ...

structure made by Innovative Solutions In Space BV (ISIS) from

Delft Delft () is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan ...

, Netherlands. It is wide and long, and has a mass of about . The satellite's payload, a

linear transponder A communications satellite's transponder is the series of interconnected units that form a communications channel between the receiving and the transmitting antennas. It is mainly used in satellite communication to transfer the received signals. ...

and on-board computer, were designed in the RF Electronic Laboratory of ITU. It is Turkey's first indigenously developed satellite. TurkSat-3USat providing

SSB SSB may refer to: Organizations * Scandinavian School of Brussels * Social Security Board (disambiguation) * , the Society of Saint Bridget * Society of the Sisters of Bethany, an Anglican order of sisters * Society of Systematic Biologists * , ...

/ CW communication in amateur radio frequency bands. The transponder input is 145.940-145.990 MHz and the output is 435.200-435.250 MHz. On 437.225 MHz is either a CW beacon or 9,600

baud In telecommunication and electronics, baud (; symbol: Bd) is a common unit of measurement of symbol rate, which is one of the components that determine the speed of communication over a data channel. It is the unit for symbol rate or modulatio ...

Audio frequency-shift keying Frequency-shift keying (FSK) is a frequency modulation scheme in which digital information is transmitted through discrete frequency changes of a carrier signal. The technology is used for communication systems such as telemetry, weather ball ...

(AFSK).

Solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a pho ...

s and

lithium polymer batteries A lithium polymer battery, or more correctly lithium-ion polymer battery (abbreviated as LiPo, LIP, Li-poly, lithium-poly and others), is a rechargeable battery of lithium-ion technology using a polymer electrolyte instead of a liquid electroly ...

together with

super capacitor A supercapacitor (SC), also called an ultracapacitor, is a high-capacity capacitor, with a capacitance value much higher than other capacitors but with lower voltage limits. It bridges the gap between electrolytic capacitors and Rechargeable ba ...

s provide the required power. Passive magnetic attitude control system with hysteresis rods enable satellite stabilization. A C329 UART camera module is available on board for occasional snapshots of Earth. The satellite features also a system to deorbit itself after the completion of its mission in compliance with the current CubeSat standard and

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

regulations.

References

{{Istanbul Technical University Spacecraft launched in 2013 Student satellites CubeSats Istanbul Technical University Communications satellites of Turkey Communications satellites in low Earth orbit 2013 in Turkey