Payload Subsytem

Multispectral remote sensing, also known as imaging spectroscopy, is a well-established technology used for the detection and identification of minerals, terrestrial vegetation, and man-made materials and backgrounds. The primary payload of our satellite is a multispectral camera which is a challenging task to be used as a payload for nanosatellites due to its conventional models requiring intensive power and processing capabilities. Multispectral imaging provides a great amount of spectral information to identify and distinguish between different spectrally similar materials. It has the potential of accurate and detailed information extraction than what is possible with other types of remotely sensed data. The camera captures a part of the electromagnetic spectrum from 400-1000nm (visible – near-infrared). The camera's concentric design spectrometer with very fine resolution helps the existing solid-state imaging technology to take images from the wavebands which provide relevant data.

On Board Computer

The On Board Computer is the main string puller, controlling and coordinating all the other subsystems on the satellite. It regularly collects various housekeeping data from the other subsystems and accordingly switches between various modes of operations. The OBC in our case has a System-on-Chip(SoC) based design, consisting of a Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA) and a microprocessor. An SoC being inherently efficient, meets the power requirements associated with a nanosatellite. While the microprocessor will be busy coordinating among the subsystems, the camera interfacing will be implemented on the FPGA.

Electrical Power Subsystem

Electrical Power System is responsible for harnessing energy from the solar panels, storing extra power in the batteries and conditioning it to supply different subsystems with necessary voltages and currents with required precision. Since, all of satellites functionality depends on it, robustness and redundancy is the dominating characteristic while designing an Electrical Power System. Apart from these primary functions, it is also responsible for protecting components from electrical spikes caused by space effects like Single Event Upsets (SEUs) caused by solar flares or radiation from Van Allen Belt. Since EPS is the first subsystem to be turned on after the satellite, it is also responsible for booting up OBC. Our satellite has a hyperspectral camera, an intensive processor and necessity to transfer huge amounts of data, making effective management of energy a categorical priority.

Attitude Determination And Control Subsystem

The Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) has the crucial job of controlling and stabilizing the satellite against external disturbances. It also has to perform various maneuvers to point the maximum surface area towards the sun, or to track the ground station for communication purposes or even actively stabilize the satellite while taking the images of the earth. The system can further be divided into two subsystems – the attitude determination system (ADS) and the attitude control system (ACS). The ADS consists of the sunsensors, GPS and magnetometers as reference sensors and an IMU as an inertial sensor to obtain the attitude knowledge using EQUEST and EKF as determination and estimation algorithms. The magnetorquers will be used to detumble the satellite as a part of ACS. The reaction wheels along with the magnetorquers will be used for advanced control algorithms to actively orient and control the satellite during image acquisition, communication and sun tracking.

Structural And Thermal Subsystem

The structural subsystem deals with the design and analysis of the main structure of the satellite by proper allocation of dimensions and space to other subsystem components, keeping in mind the constraints each of them poses. It plays an important role during launch as it has to withstand the static and dynamic loading and the vibrations induced. It also protects the internal components against the harsh space environment in orbit. The dimensions and weight of the hyperspectral imaging payload, makes the design of the satellite a challenge to keep it within the constraints as specified by NASA. The thermal subsystem is responsible for maintaining the temperature of the components within their specified operational limits. The temperature control in our satellite is achieved mostly by using passive methods, such as Multi Layered Insulation (MLI), surface finishes, paints, etc., with an active thermal control using heaters for the battery as it is the most temperature sensitive component.

Telemetry and Ground Station

“Never let a satellite go incommunicado” is the motto around which the communications team works. The system is responsible for setting up a reliable connection between the satellite and the ground station in the UHF and VHF amateur bands. It consists of a beacon and a data telemetry system. The beacon basically advertises its humble existence to the world and is used for transmitting some mission critical data (some of the housekeeping data). The data downlinking system is tasked with transmitting the payload data and all the housekeeping data. Along with this, the telemetry system receives commands and updates sent from the ground station. The ground station server will run a software for Tracking the satellite and control a rotor accordingly, to orient the antennae. The client connected to the server will be able to remotely operate it. A good number of satellites have been launched which have successfully established connections with the ground station. Owing to the low earth orbit into which the satellite will be deployed, each satellite pass will last for about 6-9 minutes and there will be about 3 passes a day. This calls for a high data rate of transmission which in turn increases power consumption, increases the bandwidth occupancy and decreases the reliability of connection. hed which have successfully established connections with the ground station. Well, here's the rub in our case. Firstly, the size of a hyperspectral image is unconventionally large to be transmitted from a nanosatellite. Secondly, owing to the low earth orbit into which the satellite will be deployed, each satellite pass will last for about 6-9 minutes and there will be about 3 passes a day. This calls for a high data rate of transmission which in turn increases power consumption, increases the bandwidth occupancy and decreases the reliability of connection.

Publicity, Sponsorship and Design

Team Anant has received a widespread appreciation globally for their groundbreaking work in the field of space aviation. Realizing the team’s potential to inspire younger generation about the accessibility of space exploration and pertaining to team’s financial requirements, this sub-system was founded in 2018. At present stage, it regulates the market and business relations of the team. It tries to encash and convert the potential partnerships to help team work consistently by assisting in logistical and financial requirements, apart from handling the social media handles and media relations for the team.