F-1 is a 1U CubeSat built by FSpace laboratory at FPT University in Vietnam, in partnership with Angstrom Space Technology Center (ASTC), Uppsala University and NanoRacks LLC. Its mission is to train young engineers and students about aerospace engineering and evaluate an advanced 3-axis magnetometer (SDTM) designed in Sweden by ASTC.
F-1 was launched on 21 July 2012 and delivered to International Space Station (ISS) aboard Kounotori 3 along with the Raiko, We Wish, Niwaka and TechEdSat cubesats. Then, on October 4, 2012, it was deployed into orbit from ISS using JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) which was attached to the Kibo module's robotic arm. As of November 2, 2012, F-1 failed to confirm communication after the orbital deployment.
Structure: aluminium alloy T-6061
Power supply: body-mounted solar cells, rechargeable Li-Polymer battery
PIC16 and PIC18 micro-controllers
Yaesu VX-3R handheld transceivers
C328 low-resolution camera
Temperature sensors
3-axis magnetometer (ASTC)
2 meter band Dipole Antenna
70cm band Dipole Antenna
Size: 10x10x10cm (1U cubesat)
Mass: 1 kg
Communication: 02 independent radios using amateur radio VHF & UHF bands, transmission speed 1200bit/s; AFSK & PWM Morse code modulation, KISS protocol
Payload: low resolution C328 camera (640×480 maximum resolution, 8 bit color)
Sensors: temperature sensors and 3-axis magnetometer
Targeted orbit lifetime: at least 3 months on orbit (depend on release altitude from the ISS)
1. Backup UHF channel (only operational in daylight):
Frequency: 437.485 MHz
Modulation: Narrow FM
Power: about 0.2W RF output
Antenna: half-wave dipole
Beacon interval: 20 seconds duration, repeated every 90 seconds
Pulse-Width-Modulation Morse code telemetry beacon
2. Main VHF channel (operational during night time but may be turned on in daylight later)
Frequency: 145.980 MHz
Modulation scheme: AFSK/FM
Power: 1.0W RF output
Antenna: half-wave dipole
Baud rate: 1200bit/s
Telemetry and interval: one burst of 3 telemetry packets in KISS format every 30 seconds (interval configurable)
F-1’s KISS packet format
Note:
F-1 periodically sends a burst of 3 telemetry packets with the same content, to avoid loss of packet
Time in UTC, 24 hours format
Year count starting from 2012 (2012 equals 0, 2013 equals 1 and so on…)
Battery voltage reading is accurate to 0.01V, values are multiplied by 100. Divide by 100 to get actual value.
Solar cells voltage reading is accurate to 0.1V, values are multiplied by 10. Divide by 10 to get actual value.
Temperature readings from sensors, will be added with 100 before transmission to ensure a positive number so please subtract 100 to get actual value
112 bits, divide to 14 chunks of 8 bits, each chunk becomes one byte