Lithuania already has the first satellite in space controlled from the Earth. Yesterday at 15:30:26 the satellite radio station of Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) established a two-way connection with LitSat-1 for the first time (the satellite was launched into space last Friday). Obeying the command sent from the Earth the satellite’s GPS receiver was switched on.
‘Controlling the satellite from the Earth was one of the most difficult tasks in this mission. We can honestly say that we succeeded to complete more than half of the mission’, says Prof Darius Gailius of KTU.
Vidmantas Tomkus, the head of Lithuanian Space Association is convinced that the successful satellite GPS receiver experiment will interest cube satellite manufacturers all over the world as there is strong need to commercialise CubeSat technologies.
‘As far as we are aware, satellite navigation system experiments on cube satellites were conducted only a few times, and not all of them were successful. When a satellite is moving in space at 8 km/s speed it is not an easy task to determine its location by GPS’, says Tomkus.
The GPS receivers for usage in space cost around 50 000 LTL; only professional satellite manufacturers can afford them.
‘Cube satellite technology aims to make satellite launching cheaper so as space ventures were affordable for wider range of companies, including universities and private organisations. The cube satellites could be used for exact monitoring of earth, for wireless connection. GPS receivers could be used to help correct the trajectory of a satellite when they are moving in a group’, says Tomkus.
The GPS receiver of LitSat-1 sends information about the height of the satellite’s trajectory and about its speed. These parameters allow KTU researchers to research the flight, to determine the position of the satellite with respect to the Earth, and to prepare themselves to the next missions in space. The most recent updates on the technical data of the mission can be found on www.litsat1.eu.
The team of LitSat-1 creators has one more important task ahead of them. Soon the linear transponder of the satellite which will broadcast three words of Lithuanian nation – Lietuva myli laisvę (Lithuania loves freedom) – into space will be tested.
The words are expected to be broadcasted from the space before 11 March, the Day of Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania.
