[elkos]

Hey there, UPSat team member here. If you have any questions for the team I would be more than happy to answer them of relay them to the team.

[pjc50]

Great project!

The overview doesn't really say what the satellite is for, so I went digging. It looks like you have two payloads, the https://www.qb50.eu/ system for analysing the thin plasma of the upper atmosphere and a 5MP imager (essentially a cellphone camera in space)?

How do you handle comms to ground - do you have to rent time on ground stations or do you have your own?

I quite like the use of multiple STM32F4 microcontrollers, one per subsystem. Are they special spacegrade ones or "regular"?

[elkos]

That's right we have two payloads a QB50 subsystem to analyse thin plasma and an imager

Comms are handled via the SatNOGS project open satellite project

STM32F4 aren't special spacegrade but they have already being used successfully in other cubesats

[jmiserez]

What does it actually do, i.e. what is it's mission?

I couldn't find this info anywhere on the website.

[elkos]

It's part of the QB50 project aiming to collect data from thin plasma in thermosphere.

[ralmeida]

Hello, and congrats on the project. Could you provide a brief overview as to how does one actually launch the satellite into space? Is there a company that does this, what kind of permits/certifications/etc are needed, etc?

[grandalf]

Will there be a hardened version? Shielded from laser attacks, EMI attacks, projectiles, explosives, etc?

[pjc50]

There's no sensible way to shield a satellite from projectiles at orbital velocity.

[grandalf]

I wonder about the other risks. What do you think is the most effective way to disable a satellite? (And correspondingly, the best way to keep one safe?)

[thewisenerd]

How do you actually _do_ the simulations/testing for various scenarios?