The 3rd AAU Satellite
AAUSAT3
The 3rd AAU Satellite
AAUSAT3
AAUSAT3 was the third student-built cubesat from Aalborg University and was a successor to AAUSAT-II. The process of developing the AAUSAT3 began at the end of 2007, already before the launch of AAUSAT-II.
The goal of the AAUSAT3 mission was to carry two different types of Automated Identifications System (AIS) receivers into outer space – AIS1 and AIS2. Both AIS receivers, like AAUSAT3, were developed by students.
AIS1 was a conventional hardware receiver, while AIS2 was a Software Defined Radio, specifically designed to receive AIS messages in space.
The purpose of AAUSAT3 and the AIS receivers was to investigate the quality of ship surveillance from space.
AAUSAT3
AAUSAT3
AAUSAT3
AAUSAT3
AAUSAT3
AAUSAT3
AAUSAT3
AAUSAT3
AAUSAT3
AAUSAT3
On February 25, 2013, AAUSAT3, like AAUSAT-II, was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in India via a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle – an Indian-developed launch vehicle. Like the AAUSAT-II, the AAUSAT3 was a CubeSat measuring 10 x 10 x 10 cm and with a weight of 800 grams.
The primary test area for AAUSAT3 was over Greenland due to the low density of ships.
The last transmission from AAUSAT3 was received on 17 September 2014, after which the signal disappeared due to battery problems in the satellite. Despite its short life, the AAUSAT3 project helped to prove that a student-built cubesat equipped only with a low-power SDR-based AIS receiver and a simple dipole antenna still made it possible to receive high-quality AIS data from satellites in low earth orbit (also called LEO satellites).
You can follow the location of the AAUSAT3 in real time right here
Satellite Facts
Name: AAUSAT3
Type: CubeSat
Units or mass: 1U
Status: Was operational until 2014-09-17. Power production gradually decreased until it was too low.
Launched: 2013-02-25
NORAD ID: 39087
Deployer: XPOD (eXperimental Push Out Deployer) [UTIAS/SFL]
Launcher: PSLV
Organisation: Aalborg University
Entity: Academic / Education
Nation: Denmark
Launch brokerer: Space Flight Laboratory (UTIAS-SFL)
Oneliner: Educational space systems engineering and testing AIS receivers.
Failure cause: Power production gradually decreased until it was too low due to solar cell degradation.
AAU Space