Those who closely follow space launches are probably aware that on April 18, the resupply mission Cygnus CRS OA-7 took place, bound for the International Space Station. Its manifest included more than 30 CubeSat units, and one of them is UPSat, the first open source satellite. From the overall design to its software, everything is available to the public, enabling its use as a base for similar developments.
Another successful launch, a new mission to the International Space Station, and the fulfillment of many dreams. That might sound a bit poetic, but getting to space is extremely complicated, even for specialized institutions. Fortunately, that difficulty has decreased thanks to the advancement of mini satellites, the CubeSats. Some media have declared the CubeSat responsible for the democratization of space, but personally I don't think that's the case yet. Besides going to space, you first have to design a satellite. Where do we start? That's when the Free Space Foundation and the University of Patras in Greece come in.
The project is named UPSat, and in simple terms, it is the first open source satellite. All the material related to its construction, including the chassis and firmware, is freely accessible and at no cost. UPSat is part of the QB50 mission, which plans to place a network of 50 2U and 3U CubeSats into orbit (UPSat is a 2U). Available information indicates that the Cygnus CRS OA-7 flight carried the first 31 satellites to the space station, and the rest will arrive with the help of a PSLV-XL vehicle developed by ISRO (India's space agency), whose launch is scheduled for the last days of May.
The open source profile of UPSat also extends to its telemetry, but those who want to listen on their own can build a SatNOGS station and tune to 435.765 MHz. The deployment of UPSat will be handled by the NanoRacks program, and although there are no precise data, the official page announced that its release will be "within a few weeks"
