SYS.CANSAT // SUBORBITALES BIS ORBITALES INGENIEURZENTRUM FÜR STUDIERENDE·8 GLOBALE PROGRAMME·4 DETERMINISTISCHE LAB-SIMULATOREN

CanSat- & Modellsatelliten-Ingenieurzentrum

Erstmals 1998 von Bob Twiggs vorgeschlagen — ein Jahr vor dem CubeSat-Standard (1999) und elf Jahre vor dem PocketQube-Standard (2009) — bilden CanSat und zweistufige Modellsatelliten das grundlegende Erprobungsfeld des Raumfahrt-Systems-Engineerings. Nutzen Sie die deterministische Werkbank unten zur Auslegung von Fallschirmen und Öffnungsstoßlasten, zur Abstimmung barometrischer MEMS-Apogäumsfilter, zur Prüfung von CSV-Telemetriestrecken und Startrampen-Batteriebudgets sowie zur Vorbereitung auf internationale PDR-, CDR- und FRR-Meilensteine.

Interaktive Werkbank (4 Simulatoren)Globale Wettbewerbe (8)CanSat → 1P/1U Orbitale BrückeFlugsoftware-Zustandsautomat8 Kritische FehlermodiSatWiki: CanSat (SQ-FF-006)

SYS.SIMULATOR // CANSAT & MODEL SATELLITE ENGINEERING WORKBENCH

Deterministic Descent, Altimeter, Telemetry & Separation Sizer

Coupled troposphere aerodynamics (ICAO Doc 7488 ISA + Knacke 1992 Pflanz opening-shock method), MEMS barometer apogee filtering, RF link & launch-rail standby battery sizing, and NiCr thermal release calculations for PDR/CDR documentation.

AERODYNAMIC & DEPLOYMENT PARAMETERS

Simple 6–8 gore flat polygon; requires a 10–15% apex spill hole to damp pendulum oscillation.

Touchdown Rate v_t

8.76 m/s

Effective S = 895 cm²

Flight Duration & Drift

95.0 s

Wind drift: 428 m

Opening Shock (Pflanz)

31.5 N (9.7 G)

Shroud SF: 21.2×

Target Canopy Sizing

10 m/s → Ø29.8 cm

5 m/s → Ø59.6 cm

  • Single-Stage Descent (Flat Circular (Standard Ripstop Nylon))
  • Horizontal Wind Drift (m, at 4.5 m/s wind)
Simulated Descent Profile: Altitude AGL (m) vs. Elapsed Flight Time (s)0213425638850024487196Elapsed Descent Time (s)Altitude AGL / Horizontal Drift (m)Single-Stage Descent (Flat Circular (Standard Ripstop Nylon))Horizontal Wind Drift (m, at 4.5 m/s wind)
Daten als Tabelle anzeigen
Elapsed Descent Time (s)Single-Stage Descent (Flat Circular (Standard Ripstop Nylon))Horizontal Wind Drift (m, at 4.5 m/s wind)
08500
24632108
48416216
71212319
96——

MEMS BAROMETER & KALMAN / IIR FILTER CONFIGURATION

Drone/CanSat flight-control standard; hardware IIR filter and FIFO prevent packet loss during pyrotechnic ejection.

hPa →702.0 m AGL

Raw vs. Filtered Alt Noise

±2.1 cm RMS

Unfiltered raw: ±6.8 cm

Vertical Velocity σ_vz

±0.75 m/s

Trigger delay: 0.72 s (18 samples)

Ejection Spike Immunity

MODERATE RISK

Min recommended: ≥15 samples

ISA MISSION PRESSURE TABLE (PAD ELEVATION = 150 m ASL)

Flight EventAltitude AGLExpected PressureFirmware Trigger Rule
Launch Pad Baseline (P₀)0.0 m995.36 hPaStore in FRAM/EEPROM on `CMD,CAL`
Stage-2 Separation Threshold400 m948.90 hPaSTATE==DESCENT && h_filt ≤ 400 m for ≥15 samples
Nominal Apogee850 m898.75 hPav_z < −2.0 m/s for ≥15 samples (+600 ms ejection blanking)

RF TRANSCEIVER & LAUNCH-RAIL POWER PROFILE

Standard for AAS US CanSat Competition (ITU Region 2 ISM band; configure NETID/PAN ID per team).

Slant Range & FSPL

1.99 km

FSPL: 97.6 dB

Link Margin

+34.5 dB

Rx: -66.5 dBm

1st Fresnel Zone r₁

12.8 m

Keep Tripod ≥ 2 m AGL

Min 2S Battery (7.4 V)

420 mAh

Total: 3.10 Wh (incl. 35% margin)

INTERACTIVE CSV TELEMETRY PACKET & BANDWIDTH AUDITOR

Paste a sample ASCII CSV telemetry line from your flight firmware to verify field count, byte length, and RF channel utilization at 4 Hz:

Fields: 16Frame Size (incl. CRLF): 107 BThroughput @ 4 Hz: 3424 bpsAir Duty Cycle: 1.71%

NICHROME 80 (NiCr 80/20) THERMAL CUTTER SIZER

Wire Resistance & Dia

0.41 Ω

Ø0.202 mm

Pulse Current & Power

4.60 A

8.6 W on wire

Surface Heat Flux

113.5 W/cm²

Cut time: ~0.25 s

Release Status

OVERCURRENT RISK

Timeout at 2.5 s

OPEN-HARDWARE CANSAT CAD (.STEP / .DXF) & KICAD CIRCULAR PCB GENERATOR

Download standard-compliant mechanical envelopes (Ø66 × 115 mm ESA CanSat cylinder) and a ready-to-route Ø62.0 mm circular KiCad 7/8 PCB template with 4× M3 standoffs on a Ø53.0 mm bolt circle:

SYS.ATLAS // INTERNATIONAL STUDENT CANSAT & MODEL SATELLITE PROGRAMS

Global Competition Specifications & Review Gate Atlas

Comparative mechanical, aerodynamic, RF telemetry, and design-review requirements across major university and high-school CanSat and Model Satellite programs worldwide.

Two-Stage Container–PayloadGlobal / North America · University

AAS Student CanSat Competition

American Astronautical Society (AAS), NASA, NRL & Industry Sponsors

End-to-end planetary probe simulation: rocket ejection, container-payload mid-air separation, controlled autogyro/parafoil descent, shock survival of a fragile internal test article, and portable ground-station telemetry.

ENVELOPE & MASS
Ø125 mm × 310–400 mm cylindrical container housing a separable internal science payload · 600–1,000 g total system mass (mission-guide year dependent, ±5 g tolerance)
APOGEE & DESCENT
670–725 m AGL (sounding rocket deployment near apogee) · Stage 1: ~15 m/s drogue descent; Stage 2 (≤400–500 m): ≤5 m/s parafoil, autogyro, or guided descent
TELEMETRY & RF
900 MHz / 2.4 GHz XBee (PAN/NETID assigned), 1 Hz–4 Hz CSV ASCII frames + onboard/live video
Primary Engineering Bottleneck: Guaranteeing jam-free mechanical separation of the payload from the container under dynamic pendulum oscillation while preserving non-volatile flight state across power brownouts.
Application & Mission ConceptPreliminary Design ReviewCritical Design ReviewFlight Readiness ReviewLaunch Campaign & Post-Flight Review
Official Guide
Standard 330 mL CanSatEurope · High School & Early University

ESA European CanSat Competition

European Space Agency (ESA Education) & ESERO National Offices

Dual-mission structure: mandatory Primary Mission (1 Hz atmospheric temperature and barometric pressure profiling for hypsometric altitude reconstruction) plus an open student-designed Secondary Scientific Mission.

ENVELOPE & MASS
Ø66 mm × 115 mm (standard European 330 mL beverage can volume; parachute stowage external) · 300–350 g (mandatory minimum 300 g ballast requirement for rocket stability)
APOGEE & DESCENT
800–1,000 m AGL (sounding rocket or high-altitude captive drone drop) · 8–11 m/s recommended (ESA European CanSat Guidelines 2024–2025)
TELEMETRY & RF
433 MHz or 868 MHz ISM (LoRa / FSK), ≥1 Hz continuous temperature & barometric pressure profile
Primary Engineering Bottleneck: Fitting EPS, MCU, radio, barometer, battery, and a secondary payload (multispectral camera, gas sensor, or reaction wheel) inside the 393 cm³ Ø66 × 115 mm cylinder while meeting the 20 G shock load requirement.
National ESERO Selection ProposalPreliminary Progress ReportFinal Paper & Technical Readiness InspectionLaunch Campaign & Scientific Jury Presentation
Official Guide
Autonomous Comeback / RoverGlobal / North America · University & Open

ARLISS — A Rocket Launch for International Student Satellites

UNISEC-Global, Stanford SSDL Alumni & AeroPac

The original 1999 CanSat testbed: autonomous guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) from 4 km altitude in high desert winds to reach a designated GPS coordinate with zero human-in-the-loop intervention.

ENVELOPE & MASS
CanSat Class: ≤Ø66 × 240 mm; Open Class: ≤Ø146 × 240 mm (fits AeroPac M-class carrier) · CanSat Class: ≤350 g; Open Class: ≤1,050 g
APOGEE & DESCENT
3,500–4,000 m AGL (11,500–13,000 ft) over Black Rock Desert playa, Nevada · High-altitude drogue/chute deceleration followed by autonomous parafoil, quadrotor, or surface rover
TELEMETRY & RF
Pre-coordinated UHF / 915 MHz / 2.4 GHz telemetry; 100% closed-loop onboard autonomy required for scoring
Primary Engineering Bottleneck: Surviving violent transonic/high-dynamic-pressure parachute deployment shocks at 4,000 m AGL and executing autonomous parachute release + rover/parafoil waypoint navigation across several kilometers.
Design Document & Frequency Coordination FilingBlack Rock Desert On-Site Safety & Structural InspectionHigh-Altitude Carrier Integration & FlightAutonomous GPS Target Distance Measurement
Official Guide
Two-Stage Container–PayloadEurope · University

CNES C’Space International Student Campaign

Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) & Planète Sciences

Rigorous space-agency qualification workflow applied to atmospheric probes, deployable booms, surface landers, and multi-body CanSat formations.

ENVELOPE & MASS
Standard Class: Ø66 × 115 mm; Open Class: Ø120 × 260 mm (deployable mechanisms permitted) · 300–1,000 g depending on class
APOGEE & DESCENT
1,000–1,500 m AGL (Camp de Ger military range) · 7–12 m/s controlled parachute or active aerodynamic braking
TELEMETRY & RF
433 / 868 MHz / 2.4 GHz ground station telemetry with strict CNES range-safety RF qualification
Primary Engineering Bottleneck: Passing CNES/Planète Sciences mechanical, electrical, and RF range-safety qualification checks on the first inspection.
Architectural Definition ReviewPlanète Sciences Qualification & Integration CheckCamp de Ger Range Safety & EMC VerificationFlight & Post-Flight Telemetry Defense
Official Guide
Autonomous Comeback / RoverAsia-Pacific · University

UNISEC-Global CLTP & Japanese Regional CanSat Events (Noshiro / Wakayama / Tanegashima)

University Space Engineering Consortium (UNISEC) & Japanese University Labs

Hands-on systems engineering training (CanSat Leader Training Program — CLTP) and precision autonomous run-back rovers with optical/lidar/GPS terminal guidance.

ENVELOPE & MASS
Ø66 × 115–200 mm CanSat & Rover configurations · 300–1,050 g
APOGEE & DESCENT
100–1,500 m AGL (tethered balloon, drone, and sounding rocket classes) · 5–10 m/s parachute + autonomous surface rover or winged flyback
TELEMETRY & RF
920 MHz / 2.4 GHz telemetry + onboard SD card logging and closed-loop PID heading control
Primary Engineering Bottleneck: Reliable parachute detachment upon ground touchdown so surface wind does not drag the rover away from the target beacon.
Systems Engineering & Work Breakdown ReviewHardware-in-the-Loop & Drop-Test VerificationField Campaign & Post-Mission Root-Cause Presentation
Official Guide
Standard 330 mL CanSatEurope · High School & Early University

ESERO-UK CanSat & UKSEDS Satellite / Rocketry Challenges

ESERO-UK, UK Space Agency & UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space

Atmospheric boundary-layer profiling, nadir earth-observation imaging, and shock-hardened mechanical packaging.

ENVELOPE & MASS
Ø66 mm × 115 mm cylinder (up to 230 mm with externally packed recovery harness) · 300–350 g
APOGEE & DESCENT
400–1,000 m AGL · 8–11 m/s nominal parachute descent
TELEMETRY & RF
433 MHz / 868 MHz LoRa or FSK telemetry to portable Yagi ground station
Primary Engineering Bottleneck: Maintaining uninterrupted UHF/ISM packet reception during high-rate spin and antenna polarization rotation.
Preliminary Design ReportCritical Design & Safety ReviewNational Finals Launch & Data Analysis
Official Guide
Two-Stage Container–PayloadLatin America · University

Ibero-American & Latin American University CanSat Programs (PEU-UNAM / CONAE / AEB)

Programa Espacial Universitario (UNAM), CONAE & Agência Espacial Brasileira (CubeDesign)

Full NASA/ECSS-inspired lifecycle training bridging suborbital CanSat hardware to university CubeSat and PocketQube missions.

ENVELOPE & MASS
Ø66–125 mm cylindrical probes and multi-stage atmospheric payloads · 350–1,000 g
APOGEE & DESCENT
400–1,000 m AGL · 5–10 m/s parachute or autogyro descent
TELEMETRY & RF
433 / 915 MHz LoRa & XBee real-time ground station visualization
Primary Engineering Bottleneck: Designing low-cost, reproducible COTS avionics stacks and custom ground-station GUIs under strict mass and power budgets.
PDR & Structural Mockup InspectionCDR & Telemetry Range QualificationFRR & Launch / Drop Campaign
Official Guide
Two-Stage Container–PayloadRegional / International · University

International & Regional Container–Payload Model Satellite Competitions (e.g. TÜRKSAT / TEKNOFEST, IN-SPACe India)

National Space Agencies & Satellite Operators (IN-SPACe India, TÜRKSAT, KARI Korea)

High-complexity multi-body separation, active attitude/camera stabilization, bidirectional telecommand execution, and real-time video/sensor fusion.

ENVELOPE & MASS
Ø120–125 mm container + separable payload (or dual-payload relay architecture) · 600–1,000 g
APOGEE & DESCENT
600–1,000 m AGL · 12–15 m/s container descent; 4–8 m/s active/passive payload descent
TELEMETRY & RF
433 / 868 / 900 MHz / 2.4 GHz bidirectional command + live video stream + SD archive
Primary Engineering Bottleneck: Simultaneous high-rate sensor telemetry and video transmission without RF self-interference (desense) or regulator brownout.
Preliminary Design ReportCritical Design ReportFlight Readiness ReviewLaunch & Post-Flight Telemetry Audit
Official Guide

SYS.COMPARISON // FROM SUBORBITAL CANSAT (1998) TO ORBITAL POCKETQUBE (2009) & CUBESAT (1999)

Suborbital-to-Orbital Systems Engineering Matrix

How subsystem requirements evolve when transitioning a student engineering team from an atmospheric CanSat or two-stage Model Satellite to an orbital 1P PocketQube or 1U CubeSat.

Subsystem / ParameterStandard CanSat (330 mL)Container–Payload Model Sat1P PocketQube (LEO)1U CubeSat (LEO)
Standard EnvelopeØ66 × 115 mm cylinder (393 cm³)Ø125 × 310 mm cylinder (~3,800 cm³)50 × 50 × 50 mm cube (125 cm³, 1.6 mm backplate)100 × 100 × 113.5 mm cube (1,135 cm³, 8.5 mm rails)
Typical Wet Mass300–350 g (ballast floor at 300 g)600–1,000 g (container + payload)180–250 g (≤250 g PQ60 standard)1,000–2,000 g (≤2.0 kg CDS Rev 14.1)
Operating Regime & Duration0–4 km troposphere · 90–180 s descent (+2–4 h pad standby)0–1 km troposphere · 90–150 s descent (+2–4 h pad standby)400–550 km LEO vacuum · 1.5–4.5 years orbital lifetime450–600 km LEO vacuum · 3–8 years orbital lifetime
Aerodynamics & Descent / OrbitContinuum air (ρ ≈ 1.225 kg/m³); parachute drag v_t = 8–11 m/sTwo-stage drogue (15 m/s) + parafoil/autogyro (≤5 m/s)Free-molecular thermosphere (ρ ≈ 10⁻¹² kg/m³); King-Hele orbital decayFree-molecular thermosphere; lower area-to-mass ratio B = C_d A / m
Electrical Power (EPS)Primary 9 V alkaline or 1S–2S LiPo/LiFePO4 (no solar required)2S LiPo/LiFePO4 + separate servo/burn-wire rail & external kill switchBody-mounted GaAs solar cells (0.8–1.1 W OAP) + 1S Li-ion (6–10 Wh)Body/deployable GaAs solar arrays (2.0–5.0 W OAP) + 2S Li-ion (15–30 Wh)
Attitude / Flight ControlPassive parachute stability + 9-DOF IMU attitude determinationReaction wheel / gimbal yaw stabilization or dual-servo parafoil homingPMAC bar magnet + hysteresis rods or PCB B-dot magnetorquers3-axis magnetorquers + reaction wheels, sun sensors & star tracker
RF Telemetry & Slant Range433/868/915 MHz LoRa or FSK · 1–5 km slant range · 1–5 Hz CSV900 MHz / 2.4 GHz XBee + 5.8 GHz video · 1–3 km range · 1–10 Hz400–438 MHz UHF amateur/experimental · 600–2,200 km slant rangeUHF/VHF TT&C + 2.2 GHz S-band / 8.2 GHz X-band payload downlink
Thermal & Structural LoadsConvective air cooling; 15–30 G rocket ejection & parachute opening shockConvective cooling; pyrotechnic/spring container ejection + landing impactVacuum radiative balance (±30 °C swing every 95 min); 14.1 Grms random vibVacuum radiative balance; NASA GEVS 14.1 Grms qualification & T-Vac cycling

SYS.AVIONICS // DETERMINISTIC FLIGHT SOFTWARE STATE MACHINE & BROWNOUT RECOVERY

Reference Flight State Machine (FRAM / EEPROM Persistence Pattern)

Every competition CDR/FRR requires a deterministic state transition diagram that survives mid-air processor brownouts without losing its pad zero-altitude calibration (P_0) or re-locking deployment actuators.

STATE 0 // BOOT_RECOVERY

Entry Trigger: MCU power-on or watchdog/brownout reset.

Actions: Read non-volatile state byte, packet counter, and calibrated pad reference pressure P_0 from FRAM/EEPROM before initializing actuators.

Reset Immunity: CRITICAL: Never overwrite P_0 or state on boot! If stored state ≥ 2 (in flight), jump immediately to that state without re-locking servos.
STATE 1 // LAUNCH_PAD_WAIT

Entry Trigger: Default state after ground calibration command `CMD,TEAM,CAL`.

Actions: Sample barometer at 10–20 Hz, maintain rolling baseline P_0 only while |v_z| < 1.5 m/s, transmit low-duty-cycle 1 Hz health telemetry, keep camera/high-power loads in standby.

Reset Immunity: Commit calibrated P_0 (4-byte float + CRC8) to FRAM/EEPROM upon `CAL` command receipt.
STATE 2 // ASCENT

Entry Trigger: Barometric altitude h_AGL > 25 m AND vertical velocity v_z > +8.0 m/s for N ≥ 5 consecutive samples.

Actions: Lock P_0 updates, switch telemetry to full 4–10 Hz flight rate, start high-rate SD card logging, arm apogee detector.

Reset Immunity: Persist `STATE = 2` to non-volatile memory immediately upon launch detection.
STATE 3 // APOGEE_DROGUE_DESCENT

Entry Trigger: Vertical velocity v_z < -2.0 m/s for N ≥ 8 consecutive filtered samples (or h_AGL drops > 10 m below peak h_max).

Actions: Record peak apogee altitude, deploy container/drogue stabilization if commanded, enable stage-2 separation altitude comparator.

Reset Immunity: Blank barometric derivatives for 600 ms after rocket motor burnout / ejection charge to reject pressure-spike false apogee triggers.
STATE 4 // PAYLOAD_SEPARATION

Entry Trigger: State == 3 AND h_AGL ≤ h_sep (e.g. 400 m AGL) for N ≥ 6 consecutive samples.

Actions: Energize NiCr burn-wire MOSFET (for t_cut = 1.5–2.5 s with hardware timeout) or actuate release servo; start camera recording / autogyro spin-up.

Reset Immunity: Hard-limit burn-wire MOSFET on-time in firmware (< 3.0 s) so a stalled cut cannot short the battery bus and reset the MCU.
STATE 5 // SCIENCE_MAIN_DESCENT

Entry Trigger: t > t_sep + 2.0 s AND Δh loss confirms separation.

Actions: Execute secondary mission control loop (parafoil GPS waypoint homing, reaction-wheel camera pointing, or atmospheric gas/spectrum sampling).

Reset Immunity: Flush SD card file allocation table (`file.sync()`) every 20 packets so data survives sudden landing battery disconnection.
STATE 6 // LANDED_RECOVERY_BEACON

Entry Trigger: h_AGL < 35 m AND |v_z| < 0.8 m/s continuously for ≥ 5.0 seconds.

Actions: Stop motors/servos/camera, close SD card file cleanly, activate 85+ dB piezo recovery buzzer, transmit GPS coordinates every 5 s.

Reset Immunity: Persist `STATE = 6` so battery voltage sag on the ground keeps pulsing the audio/RF recovery beacon.

SYS.RELIABILITY // LESSONS FROM FIELD CAMPAIGNS & PDR / CDR / FRR SCREENING

Eight Critical CanSat & Model Satellite Failure Modes

Complementing our orbital failure monograph (SQ-R-003), this checklist catalogs the most frequent failure modes observed in student CanSat and Model Satellite launch campaigns and their pre-flight verification tests.

FM-01 · Flight Software

Mid-Air MCU Brownout Reset Erasing Pad Zero-Altitude Calibration

Mechanism: Energizing a servo or NiCr burn-wire drops bus voltage below 3.0 V; MCU reboots at 400 m AGL, re-samples ambient pressure as 'ground level' (0 m), and never triggers lower-altitude events.

CDR/FRR Screening: Store pad reference pressure P_0 and current state in FRAM/EEPROM on ground calibration, and separate actuator/servo power onto an independent regulator or battery cell.

FM-02 · Flight Software

Premature Separation Triggered by Rocket Ejection Pressure Spike

Mechanism: Black-powder rocket ejection pressurizes the payload bay, causing a sudden +30 hPa spike (apparent -250 m altitude drop) that fools an unfiltered `h < 400 m` threshold.

CDR/FRR Screening: Require monotonic state progression (`ASCENT -> APOGEE -> DESCENT`), apply an IIR/Kalman filter, and require ≥8 consecutive samples below threshold after a 0.6 s post-ejection blanking window.

FM-03 · Mechanics & Recovery

Parachute Shroud Line Entanglement or Shock-Cord Snap at Deployment

Mechanism: Deploying at >30 m/s off-apogee produces 20–35 G opening shock; un-swiveled nylon lines twist under rocket spin and fail at knots (knots reduce line tensile strength by ~45%).

CDR/FRR Screening: Size shock cords with the Knacke-Pflanz method for ≥3× safety factor at 35 m/s, use braided Kevlar/Spectra with a ball-bearing swivel, and Z-fold shroud lines inside a deployment bag.

FM-04 · Mechanics & Recovery

Container–Payload Jamming Under Pendulum Oscillation

Mechanism: Tight 0.2 mm radial clearance binds when the container swings at ±15° under the drogue parachute or thermally expands on the launch pad.

CDR/FRR Screening: Maintain ≥1.5–2.0 mm radial clearance, add PTFE/Delrin low-friction guide rails, and test separation at a 45° tilt angle under 1× mass preload.

FM-05 · Avionics & Power

Battery Depletion During 3-Hour Launch Rail Standby

Mechanism: Teams size batteries for a 120-second flight but forget the CanSat sits powered on inside the rocket on the pad for 2–4 hours before launch.

CDR/FRR Screening: Implement a low-power `LAUNCH_PAD_WAIT` mode (camera/transmitters throttled) and size battery capacity for 4 hours standby + 15 minutes flight + 2 hours post-landing beacon with 35% reserve.

FM-06 · Flight Software

SD Card Corruption Upon Ground Impact

Mechanism: Keeping the CSV log file open without calling `sync()` / `flush()` causes the entire FAT directory entry to be lost if the battery connector bounces at touchdown.

CDR/FRR Screening: Call `file.flush()` every 10–20 frames during descent, log in parallel to onboard SPI NOR flash, and close the file immediately upon landing detection.

FM-07 · RF & Ground Segment

RF Desense Between 5.8 GHz / 2.4 GHz Video and 900 / 433 MHz Telemetry

Mechanism: Mounting a 200–600 mW video transmitter antenna within 2 cm of the telemetry transceiver saturates the LNA front-end and drops command/telemetry packets.

CDR/FRR Screening: Separate TX antennas at opposite ends of the CanSat cylinder, use coax bulkhead pigtails, and add a bandpass SAW filter on the telemetry receiver.

FM-08 · Mechanics & Recovery

Barometric Port Pressurization Error (Static Port Placement)

Mechanism: Sealing the electronics bay without static pressure relief holes—or placing holes on the stagnation nose cone—corrupts barometric altitude by ±40 m.

CDR/FRR Screening: Drill 3–4 symmetric Ø2.5–3.0 mm static ports around the cylindrical sidewall perpendicular to the airflow, shielded from direct sunlight (which causes BMP388 photo-drift).