SALSAT (Tubsat 22)

SALSAT [TU Berlin]

SALSAT (Spectrum AnaLysis SATellite) is a nanosatellite project of the Technical University of Berlin to develop, launch and operate a nanosatellite with a payload for in-orbit spectrum analysis.

The primary payload is the spectrum-analyzer SALSA, which has been developed and space-qualified within the recent research activities of the chair of space technology.

Additional payloads are an optical camera, a fluiddynamic actuation system (FDA), an S-band transceiver (SLINK) and Laser reflectors.

SALSAT is based on the TUBiX10 satellite bus which has been developed at the Technische Universität (TU) Berlin. An existing flight spare satellite of the S-Net mission is utilized and modified to accommodate the specific needs of the SALSAT mission.

The primary focus of the project consists of the design of Hard- and Software components as well as the operation of SALSAT in orbit. Scientific data for the analysis of the global spectrum use is gathered and processed throughout the mission lifetime. The data is used to generate heatmaps of the global spectrum use as well as to detect harmful interference. Study groups of the ITU for spectrum analysis for small satellites are also accompanied in the scope of the SALSAT mission.