SamSat-Ionosphere Nanosatellite has Established Communication

On November 5 at 3:18 a.m. Samara time, a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle with a Fregat upper stage successfully launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, carrying a rideshare payload of 53 small satellites. Among them was the SamSat-Ionosphere nanosatellite — a 3U CubeSat developed, manufactured, and tested by the Inter-University Department of Space Research at Samara University.

SamSat-Ionosphere has successfully established communication, with the development team receiving initial telemetry data confirming the nominal operation of onboard systems and the successful deployment of external elements, including antennas and sensor booms.

The screenshots below show part of the telemetry data received during the first communication session.

Figure 1 – Energy Power System controller temperature

Figure 2 – Battery voltage

Figure 3 – Signal-to-noise ratio of the onboard receiver