Special Temporary Authority application - Applicant Name
Name of Applicant:
Aerospace Corporation, THE
Special Temporary Authority application - Best Contact
First Name:
David
Last Name:
Hinkley
Phone Number:
310-336-5211
Title:
PICOSAT project manager
Special Temporary Authority application - Certification
Applicant certification
Neither the applicant nor any other party to the application is subject to a denial of Federal benefits that includes FCC benefits pursuant to Section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, 21 U.S.C. Section 862, because of a conviction for possession or distribution of a controlled substance. The applicant hereby waives any claim to the use of any particular frequency or electromagnetic spectrum as against the regulatory power of the United States because of the prvious use of the same, whether by license or otherwise, and requests authorization in accordance with this application. (See Section 304 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.) The applicant acknowledges that all statements made in this application and attached exhibits are considered material representations, and that all the exhibits part hereof and are incorporated herein as if set out in full in this application; undersigned certifies that all statements in this application are true, complete and correct to the best of his/her knowledge and belief and are made in good faith. Applicant certifies that construction of the station would NOT be an action which is likely to have a significant environmental effect. See the Commission's Rules, 47 CFR1.1301-1.1319.
Date:
2013-02-20 00:00:00.0
Signature of Applicant (Authorized person filing form):
David A. Hinkley
Title of Applicant (if any):
Sr. Project Leader
Special Temporary Authority application - Explanation
Please explain in the area below why an STA is necessary:
A STA is required due to the non-commercial, unique research-oriented and short-term nature of the operation. The experiment will be conducted over the maximum STA award period for the AeroCube-4 satellites because they have rechargeable power systems.
Special Temporary Authority application - Information
Callsign:
WF9XVN
Class of Station:
FX MO
Nature of Service:
Experimental
Special Temporary Authority application - Manufacturer
Equipment 1 Experimental
No
Equipment 1 Manufacturer
Freewave Technologies
Equipment 1 Model Number
FGRM
Equipment 1 No. Of Units
1
Equipment 2 Experimental
No
Equipment 2 Manufacturer
The Aerospace Corporation
Equipment 2 Model Number
AdvRadio
Equipment 2 No. Of Units
1
Special Temporary Authority application - Purpose of Operation
Please explain the purpose of operation:
Picosat THE RF TECHNICAL DETAILS IN THIS GRANT REQUEST ARE IDENTICAL TO THOSE IN THE GRANT 0246-EX-ST-2011 EXCEPT FOR THE ADDITION OF GROUND SITES. AeroCube-4 Test. The purpose of the operation is to conduct research regarding the space application of microelectronic technologies. The operation includes a demonstration of principles of the physics of the low-earth-orbit space environment and its effects on microelectronics. Three AeroCube-4 satellites comprise this flight to study the physics of formation flying. The AeroCube-4 is a PICOSAT class satellite, weighs less than 1.3 KG and is 4x4x4 inches in dimension (see ?satellite design? Exhibit). It is being launched on NROL-36, slated for August 2, 2012- but it may slip. The orbit is 490 x 778 km with 66 degree inclination. Orbital debris analysis predicts a lifetime between 12.3 and 21.2 years (see ?orbit lifetime? Exhibit). The AeroCube-4 satellite has two radios for redundancy. The first is the tried-and-true Freewave Technologies, Inc. FGRM radio inside which outputs 2 Watts. It has a fixed frequency (i.e. not hopping or spread spectrum) at 914.7 MHz (see ?Freewave bandwidth? Exhibit) so that the ground station can quickly link up with the satellite rather than waiting for the hopping sequence to sync up. The second radio is called the AdvRadio that is built by The Aerospace Corporation around a Texas Instruments CC1101 transceiver chip. It also operates at a fixed 914.7 MHz frequency (see ?AdvRadio bandwidth? Exhibit) and outputs 1.5W. The satellite chooses which radio to use - both are not used at the same time. Both radios attach to an omni-directional patch antenna on the AeroCube-4. We have the pattern calculated and tested but use -10dB as the gain for 90% of the sphere area (see ?satellite antenna pattern? Exhibit). When the AEROCUBE-4 satellite is ejected, it will power-on. However the radio will be in receive-mode only. As the satellite flies over a ground station, the station will be continuously beaconing upwards towards the satellite. When the satellite radio hears the beacon, along with the proper serial number code, it will respond and a link will be established. At that point, the ground station will ask the satellite for whatever information it wants ? typically state of health log files, images from the cameras or other onboard telemetry. The satellite will respond by down-loading the requested information. When the link is lost due to the satellite passing out of view while the satellite was transmitting, the satellite will try 256 times to complete the last packet transmitted. If each packet is 72 bytes long and the radio data rate is 38.4 Kbaud, then it will try for only a couple of seconds before the 256 attempts are exceeded. At that point the satellite will go back into a passive receive mode again and again wait for the next beacon from a ground station with the correct serial number. We would like to use two types of ground stations to communicate with the AEROCUBE-4 satellite. The first is a fixed 16? dish antenna at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, CA, near LAX airport. It has 30 dB gains, 5 deg beam width and also would use a 2W Freewave FGRM radio or an AdvRadio on the feed horn. The second ground station is a portable 2-meter diameter dish. This has 22 dB gain, a 10 deg beam width and would use a Freewave FGRM radio or an AdvRadio with the output passed through a 9 W amplifier. This portable station we would like to use somewhere that is RF quiet and also advantageously located for maximum satellite coverage. A typical satellite pass is 5 minutes long, twice per day - so the system spends a lot of time not in use. We requesting approval for the same remote locations approved in STA 0246-EX-ST-2011 with the addition of: 1) Texas A&M, College Station, Tx and 2) University of Florida, Gainsville, FL. See ?FAA? Exhibit.
Special Temporary Authority application - Requested Period of Operation