FedSat - An Advanced Micro-Satellite Based on a MicroSIL ™ Bus

This document illustrates the accommodation of multiple payloads on an extremely compact microsatellite structure, based on the Space Innovations Limited (SIL) MicroSIL satellite bus. The satellite defined in this paper is the design for the proposed collaboration between the Cooperative Research Centre on Satellite Systems (CRCSS) and SIL for the Australian FedSat mission. FedSat will be launched and operational for 2001, in time for the celebrations of the centenary of the Australian Federation. The bus is a 3-axis stabilised microsatellite with a mass of approximately 50-60kg. It is due for launch into 800km circular low Earth orbit (LEO). The communications link will be in the S-band, with the on-board segment comprised of the SIL S-band communications units and the ground segment based on the SIL SGS-2.4 low cost ground stations. The satellite will accommodate various experiments: A search coil magnetometer deployed on a 2.5m boom; a UHF Data Transfer system; a Ka-band communications system; precision orbit determination using GPS; a high efficiency solar cell experiment; a high performance computer system.