Recent News
FASTRAC Satellites Get Updated Software, New Antennas
June 26, 2008
Stephen Clark
FASTRAC engineers are busily putting the finishing touches on the mission's two spacecraft sitting inside the Pickle Research Campus in northwest Austin.
Since the spacecraft were delivered back to Austin from Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque last November, the team has nearly finished developing software, replaced structural bolts and memory cards, and prepared to attach new VHF antennas to the satellites.
"The software is pretty much finished," said Sebastian Munoz, FASTRAC project manager. "We're just verifying it is ready to go."
Also, three new VHF antennas were recently delivered to the FASTRAC team from Comtelco Industries Inc. of Illinois.
The VHF antennas, each with a mass of just 0.4 pounds, will be used to for space-to-space communications between the two spacecraft while separated at large distances. The antennas will also be used in communications between the ground and the satellites.
The new antennas were ordered to replace larger antennas used on the spacecraft earlier in the mission's development. The FASTRAC team received word from the Air Force Research Laboratory that the older antennas, stretching one foot long from the main body of the spacecraft, were too large to fit inside the mission's allotted space inside the Minotaur IV launch vehicle.
Two VHF antennas will be affixed to FASTRAC 1, affectionately named Sara Lily after one of the engineer's daughters. A single VHF antenna will be fastened on FASTRAC 2, also nicknamed Emma after the daughter of another engineer.
The new antennas are just three inches long and have better performance than the old antennas.
Work on the satellites in Austin is expected to wrap up by the end of the summer, when the two spacecraft will be shipped to an AFRL facility at Kirtland. There the satellites will undergo prelaunch testing, beginning with vibration testing.
"That test basically ensures we can survive the launch environment," Munoz said.
The FASTRAC satellites will also be put in a vacuum chamber to simulate the environment of space, including the wide spread of temperatures the spacecraft will encounter in orbit.
"We'll have the spacecraft operate during part of that cycle to make sure none of the components are damaged," Munoz said.
Officials aim to complete the testing and have the two spacecraft tucked inside a shipping container by December, ready to be transported to the launch site at Kodiak Island, Alaska. The launch is currently scheduled for December 2009.
FASTRAC Satellites to Set Up and Ship Out!
March 8, 2008
Eric Hagen
It is an exciting time for the FASTRAC satellite team and community. The FASTRAC satellites have been officially manifested for launch and have returned to Austin for the first time since 2006! During the next few months the satellite team will be working on the satellites in the newly developed Flight Integration Lab at the Center for Space Research. This new lab, set up in what was previously the CSR library, facilitates the FASTRAC flight build and will soon accommodate other student-built satellite projects from the University of Texas. (The FASTRAC team would like to sincerely thank CSR for its gracious accommodations for our project.)
During the next few months, FASTRAC will be undergoing maintenance before final delivery to the Air Force Research Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before April 1st, the FASTRAC team will have completely disassembled the satellite, fixed issues including replacing fuses and installing new memory cards, and completely reassembled the satellite. In addition to working on the satellite hardware, several members of the FASTRAC team are also working on satellite software. In order to ensure a completely reliable mission, the software is being fine-tuned to make sure that all known problems are removed from the flight code. While satellite flight hardware and software is being completed, the FASTRAC ground station at the University of Texas W.R. Woolrich Laboratories is also undergoing testing and advancement. The ground station has already performed excellently in simulated satellite passes and the new, student-developed ground station software is extremely exciting.
On April 1st, the satellites will be packaged in their container and shipped off to New Mexico for environmental and pre-launch testing. During this test phase, the satellites will be subjected to conditions that approximate those found during launch and in a space environment. After completing this final phase of testing, the satellites will be launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska in the fall of 2009 on a Minotaur IV rocket. After launch, the FASTRAC crew will be manning the ground station waiting to make first contact with the satellites and begin the mission!
Once again, the FASTRAC team would like to thank the many people involved in helping in this final push. Without the hard work from the team and the community as a whole, the project would never be as close to success as it is today. With a few more months of hard work, the satellites will be ready for their launch into space on the University of Texas' inaugural student-satellite spaceflight.
Satellites Undergoing Testing at AFRL
August 27, 2006
Glenn Lightsey
(The following article will appear in the next issue of Liftoff, the Aerospace Engineering Department's newsletter).
When you look skyward next year on a starry night, you might be hearing the words 'Go Horns!' from space. And we are not talking about UT astronauts like Stephanie Wilson, although they might be saying it too.
This time, it will be coming from twin satellites designed and built by a team of students in the Aerospace Department. They have completed one of the most ambitious tasks ever attempted by students in our Department--to build satellites that will actually fly in space with their own hands. The project, known as FASTRAC (Formation Autonomy Satellite with Thrust, Relnav, Attitude, and Crosslink), is designed to demonstrate key technologies for miniaturized satellite formation flying. The satellites weigh about 20 kg each and are the size of a car tire. The two satellites work together to communicate and navigate off each other. By developing and demonstrating these new technologies, UT students are advancing the cause for future satellites that will work in groups-such as planet-finding space telescopes, and autonomous servicing and repair missions.
If you have been reading previous editions of Liftoff, then you have been following FASTRAC's progress. To recap: UT entered a national competition with 12 other universities to design and build a small satellite (called a 'nanosatellite') experiment. The prize was a winner-take-all promise by the United States Air Force to launch the winning satellites into space. The UT team, led by students Jamin Greenbaum, Thomas Campbell, and Greg Holt, took the prize. After an additional grueling year of modifications and testing (and many sleepless nights!), FASTRAC was successfully delivered to the Air Force Research Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico in June. It is expected to launch late in 2006 or in 2007.
At every step of the program, students had to innovate just to keep the low-cost satellites moving forward. Fitting an entire functioning satellite inside the volume of a car tire requires exceedingly tight integration clearances. The team had parts of the satellite made out of plastic molds from a fabrication lab in the Mechanical Engineering Department. This allowed them to test integration procedures and fit checks. They also built an electronically identical version of each satellite which sits on a table (known as a 'Flatsat'), so they could test and debug their electrical wiring and software. The flight fabrication had to be done in a positive air pressure 'clean tent' to limit dirt contamination, so the students built that too. Because spacecraft solar panel fabrication procedures are largely unknown outside of a few companies, the team developed their own methods for manufacturing and testing solar panels. Along the way they employed some creative cost saving methods, such as using a turkey oven to bake electronics and a food storage system to vacuum seal components. The innovative GPS receiver that they developed has been included in a US patent application. The list of 'outside the box' solutions that have actually worked goes on.
Now, the FASTRAC satellites have been delivered and are currently being environmentally tested at Kirtland Air Force Base. Once that is completed, they will be integrated to a launch vehicle (probably an unmanned rocket) and lifted into orbit. It won't be just your imagination when you hear the satellite's radio call sign from space: 'Go Horns!'
FASTRAC Satellites Leave Texas
June 25, 2006
Greg Holt
The first student-built satellites from the University of Texas made their final trip from the Satellite Design Lab and began the first leg of their eventual voyage to space. As proud team members looked on, the satellites were loaded into a specially contracted truck for the ride to the Air Force Research Laboratory test facilities in Albuquerque.
Many hours of hard work accompanied the sendoff of the pair, now affectionately named "Sara Lily" and "Emma" after Tom and George's newborns. There were the usual last minute bugs to work out, but the team persevered with the same tenacity that has brought them to this remarkable stage. The students experienced a mixture of elation and bittersweet emotion upon seeing the satellites leave, but an overall atmosphere of excitement is still present as the next phase of the FASTRAC mission begins.
Upon arrival at the AEF lab in Albuquerque, the satellites will be put through a regimen of testing to simulate the launch and orbit environment. This will include vibration, temperature extremes, and vacuum conditions. FASTRAC student manager Jamin Greenbaum will spend the summer at the test facility coordinating and supporting these tests.
Congratulations to all the FASTRAC team members on an amazing milestone in this mission!
FASTRAC Frequency Request Submitted
June 14, 2006
Glenn Lightsey
FASTRAC has formally submitted its Amateur Satellite Frequency Coordination Request to the International Amateur Radio Unon (IARU). This is a necessary step, along with notification to the Federal Communications Commission, to obtain approval to transmit signals in space. By completing this step, FASTRAC is officially closer to having all the necessary approvals to operate in space.
FASTRAC Mission Receives Critical D.O.D. Ranking for Launch
December 15, 2005
Jamin Greenbaum
The FASTRAC project has been ranked by the 2005 Department of Defense Space Experiments Review Board (DOD SERB), an extremely critical step for a 2006 launch.
There was good news for the members of the FASTRAC team at UT Austin and at AFRL in Albuquerque as the results of the DOD SERB were announced earlier this month. Any space experiment that hopes to be launched by the US military must first secure a ranking by the DOD SERB, which is no guarantee even for large Department of Defense projects. Although FASTRAC is a University-built satellite, it must compete with non-University programs in order to receive a launch to orbit. The SERB is a demanding three-level ranking process for programs vying for a ride to space in the Space Test Program (STP), the military broker who assigns SERB-ranked experiments to a launch vehicle. The SERB process down-selects from a large pool of experiments from potentially all branches of the military down to a small group that can be launched given the resources of US launch facilities.
Scott Franke, manager of the University Nanosatellite Program at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), successfully represented the FASTRAC project at all three levels of the SERB. The first was the AFRL SERB held at Kirtland Air Force Base where FASTRAC competed against all space experiments under development at AFRL. In September, after securing a comfortable rank in the AFRL SERB, Scott defended FASTRAC at the Air Force-wide Review Board (USAF SERB) where FASTRAC was up against experiments from other Air Force organizations. On November 1st, after receiving the important USAF SERB ranking, Scott traveled again to Washington DC to defend FASTRAC against all potential DOD space experiments in the most competitive level of the SERB. FASTRAC was ranked 39th out of 43 experiments of the DOD SERB and was the top-ranking University-built satellite.
The results of the SERB are very exciting and are a testament to the FASTRAC program as a whole and to Mr. Franke's dedication to the mission and his endurance throughout the SERB process. The spacecraft integration team at UT Austin is very grateful to Scott's efforts throughout that process.
The FASTRAC project is currently undergoing final Integration at The University of Texas at Austin Satellite Design Laboratory. That process will be followed by delivery to AFRL for system testing and final launch certification in the spring of 2006.
Congratulations to Scott Franke and the whole FASTRAC team for passing this critical test on the road to space!
FASTRAC Personnel Changes
April 20, 2005
Glenn Lightsey
As FASTRAC heads into a flight build and test phase, a number of new personnel have moved into key positions of responsibility.
Jamin Greenbaum has replaced Greg Holt as Student Manager. Greg will stay on as GPS Lead. Tena Wang has replaced Shaun Stewart as EPS Lead, and Cinnamon Wright has replaced Shaun as CDH Lead. Shaun is expected to return to the project in July. Andrew Feistel has assumed the GSE Lead position, and Millan-Diaz Aguado is the Modeling and Analysis (MOD) Lead. Mariela Hristova is now the single point of contact in charge of web site development (WEB). A number of new students have joined the project over the spring and summer and some students are also rotating off of the project.
Please join me in welcoming all of these students into their new positions of responsibility as the FASTRAC project continues to grow and change. We would also like to salute Greg, Shaun, and the rest of the team for a job well done getting FASTRAC to its current status as a true flight project. Congratulations to everyone, and keep up the good work!
FASTRAC Victorious, Headed to Space!
January 11, 2005
Glenn Lightsey
FASTRAC has won the University Nanosatellite-3 Competition and the University of Texas at Austin's student built satellite is going to be launched into space!
On Sunday January 9, 2005, in Reno, Nevada, engineering students from UT-Austin presented their mission design and hand-built satellites to a panel of judges in a nationwide competition. The contest was sponsored by the US Air Force and NASA to pick a student built satellite to be launched into space. A field of 13 Universities had previously been selected as finalists in 2003 and had worked on their satellites for the past two years. The Universities were free to propose any mission, but the competition rules stipulated that the satellites must weigh less than 30 kilograms (about 70 pounds) and cost less than $100,000.
UT-Austin's entry, the Formation Autonomy Spacecraft with Thrust, Relnav, Attitude, and Crosslink (FASTRAC) is actually a pair of satellites designed to demonstrate new technologies that enable spacecraft to work together in groups. It is believed that once these new technologies are mature, clusters of smaller satellites will outperform the larger and more expensive individual satellites that are used for many tasks today.
With the entire team working over the holidays, the UT-Austin team was able to deliver all of the hardware in working order at the Flight Competition Review held in Reno, Nevada. This remarkable accomplishment, along with the results from an extensive series of environmental tests, enabled FASTRAC to win against a strong field of worthy designs from other Universities. All of the judges remarked that they were highly impressed with the overall quality of the field.
As the UN-3 winner, the FASTRAC program enters a new phase as it prepares for flight. The existing hardware will be refurbished and selected components will be replaced with better flight quality parts. The next major milestone is delivery of a complete set of hardware to the Air Force on May 15 for a battery of flight qualification tests to be performed over the summer. FASTRAC will probably be launched into space in 2006, making it the first-ever UT-Austin built satellite to be launched into orbit.
Congratulations to the FASTRAC student team on their well-deserved victory!
FASTRAC Headed to Nevada for Competition
January 7, 2005
Glenn Lightsey
Early this morning, the FASTRAC student team loaded their finished twin satellites onto a 12 passenger van and headed to Reno, NV, where they will be judged as part of a 13 University competition for a free launch into space. The satellites are the product of a two year design, fabrication, and test effort that has been undertaken by more than 40 undergraduate and graduate students from several different academic backgrounds. The competition will be judged this Sunday January 9. If they are selected, the FASTRAC program will be extended for another year and the satellites will be integrated to a rocket for a probable launch date in 2006.
Prior to departure, both satellites were fully integrated and all subsystems were operating normally. The twin satellites will start out in a stacked configuration and then separate on command at some time after deployment. Each satellite is independently commandable and they also communicate with each other using a crosslink channel. They also contain advanced sensors and propulsion systems. The FASTRAC team has designed several hardware demonstrations to show off the capabilities of the working satellites at the Flight Competition Review.
The students have worked very hard completing this project over the past two years. They have done a great job and we are very proud of their effort. We wish them a safe journey to Nevada and good luck in the competition!
FASTRAC Satellite Completes Thermal/Vacuum Test
January 3, 2005
Glenn Lightsey
FASTRAC Satellite 1 completed a rigorous Thermal/Vacuum (T/V) test during the week before Christmas in a specially designed chamber at NASA's Johnson Space Center. FASTRAC-1 performed flawlessly, providing telemetry and responding to radio commands throughout, and the 3-day test was completed with no anomalies and no resets. University of Texas undergraduate and graduate students got the opportunity to work alongside professional NASA technicians and engineers during the test.
NASA's JSC generously agreed to donate their facilities and expertise in an educational outreach activity to enable the FASTRAC student team to test their hardware at a professional space facility. The FASTRAC hardware was treated the same as all flight hardware that is routinely tested at JSC. The student team was first subjected to a pretest review in front of a panel of NASA experts. Following the review, the three day test commenced on Dec. 20-22.
The FASTRAC-1 satellite, which had recently completed integration, was pulled to a hard vacuum of <0.1 millitorr (approximately one millionth the atmospheric pressure at sea level) and saw a series of environmental temperature cycles from a cold case of -121 degrees F to a hot case of +141 degrees F (NASA thermal tests are performed using the Fahrenheit temperature scale). These pressure and temperature extremes are designed to re-create the operational environment that the satellite will see in space.
The satellite performed perfectly with all subsystems operating nominally during the entire test. It was noted that the most temperature-sensitive components, the batteries, exceeded their maximum operating temperature by about 10 degrees F during the hot case, but it is believed that this can be accommodated by slightly reducing the thermal blanketing material inside the satellite, allowing more radiative cooling to occur.