it will be compatibile with outernet?

is this still a thing?

The square inch to space project contains small PCBs which will not deploy. The problem is, that the paperwork has to be done for every deployed part. Parts of this size cannot be tracked in space so they would not pass the tests - unless they are shot into a very low orbit where their lifetime is only about 1 month.
The corresponding PocketQub will contain all the custom PCBs, so every participant has to create an own PCB. The only constraints are dimension, bus connector and power consumption. The PCBs must be cleaned of flux and conformal coated against outgassing.
The Chipstar was another attempt,  but as it would be more expensive, there were not many participants interested in that.

Do these have any shielding to protect from high energy radiation?

The supercap on the bottom side will offer some protection against the radiation.
It looks like the radar cross section has to be increased also - after a talk with launch providers they named this issue.
I´ll try to make a corner reflector surface which will be put on the top layer. This should provide enough shielding to keep the µC running safely.
Radiation is not a so big issue in small satellites.
During periods of high radiation, controllers can perform a reset (crash -> watchdog trigger -> reset), but memory fails due to proton impacts aren´t happening that often.

wait..... you mean you can use the earth's tiny magnetic field to align this thing?

This is a common method, even for the 3kg satellites. It may take a few minutes, but this tiny field is enough.
It´s like moving a compass needle.

wow.  and that antenna is big enough to act a transciever?

It depends on the ground station.
A SatNogs-like ground station should be able to get CW signals with slow OOK (eg morse). CW has a very small bandwidth, so it is easy to detect.

won't electrolytic caps freeze in space?

The mean temperature should stay within the supercap´s specification. However, excessive testing will be necessery.
Li-Ion batteries are usually no problem at all. The inside temperatures inside of small satellites are usually positive.

I´ll use high temperature supercaps which have a much wider temperature spectrum than Li-Ion batteries, so it should work ok.

Guys I'm really happy, even joyful of your IdeaS, DesignS and Efforts, spending time, investing time, resources and so many things that I doubt I can think of or if I do - how much it will take me to mention them + motivating other people, provoking other people to be active, to not give up on dreams EVEN as SUCH -> Satellites, etc.

So for that - a BIG Bravo from me !

But although You are concentrated and I think now experienced on the part of the ECU***, you decided to outsource (in a good way, a practical approach, effective, settle, cost-wise , etc. - I see it 100%) the launch part to someone or something else. Which is an essential one. I again will say - it's 100% OK , it's understandable, logical and so on - I'm serious, it's not just to keep you calm :D But I think it's time for you to include the launch part :D

For at least ~6months now I'm, well the word is; slowly clearing my concept for a PICO/NANO-Satellite ,including the Launch part of the task :) "Of the mission :P" And 100% 'Yes', it's more ... an Idea for now than an actual concept or design, but that's the start. I actually have not come across the summary page of Satellite-related projects on Hackaday, I just did and decided to wrote to you as you will be soon merging w/ another project becoming even vast 2in1 = 1whole project :)

And regarding A LAUNCH (amateur one by definition, but not by execution :D & acording regulations of course - international and domestic by launch origin of country/region) you can add a grate value/help to anyone who will want to try to design, to make that happen one day - BY: Sharing more of your knowledge on Tests, Precautions AND to share your thoughts out loud w/ everyone about Structure (hull) Integrity of a Nano/Pico Satellite, because during Your launches you use Satellites already being prepared for deployment, i.e the packing of the satellite you are "launching" w/ the launch rocket is actually carried out by someone qualified as professionalism from 0 to 100% :)

I hope You see only positive talk from my post , because it's what I wrote :) But of course I can sound sometimes too direct or even rude/offensive so I had to mention it XD

ECU*** - Well it's a term used in automotive industry mostly, but it's literally the heart of any system - electronic control unit ( mcu / soc / fpga are electronics after all :) ) 

This would be a great achievement to build an orbital launch vehicle - unfortunately it would be far more expensive to send a few gramms into orbit by an amateur rocket (not mentioned that no amateur rocket has ever reached orbit, not even close) than it is by sending it piggyback on another payload.

This doesn´t mean that I don´t support amateur rocketry. I would be extremely flashed and happy if someone would build one. This would be an ingeniuos task. But according to cost effectiveness, I think that external launch vehicles willl be the most affordable for many more years.

I remember that I read some calculation for the minimal orbital rocket - and it would be still quite big and expensive. We´ll stick to the piggyback solution for now, hoping for an amateur rocket to reach orbit :)

I look more toward UAV & Aerospace sub-orbit / dual-usage vehicles :-) But I hear you loud & clear - what you say is 100% true & I'm aware of the reality, but also the fact remains that I think whatever the physical, cost , etc. restrictions are now in place , they are faaaaar more less than they were not just last 10 years, but last year overall. It is time to look that way UP & do something about it ! Even if it is only to try 1000th times and to fail every time of those 1000th :D Smiling absolutely too much than I do naturally but ... I'm serious ;) Thanks for the response & GL with those satellites :-)

For reference/comparison, what's the mass of one of these satellites?

And where are the coils? I don't see them in the photos.

The mass is < 10 gramms. The coils are standard SMD wirewound/multilayer unshielded coils 0603 footprint, they should be enough to generate the required torque.

Ah, so it's the right size for the N-Prize! :)

I'd be interested to know how much torque you get and how much power is consumed in practice. Wikipedia's magnetorquer article (which was surprisingly hard to find) says they don't generate much torque, but I guess you don't need much at all with such a small satellite.

According to papers, with a micronewton force, it´s possible to obtain stationkeeping with a picosatellite in about a minute. I will make further practical tests with the chipsats, but I assume that the torque will be ok - I´ll take some time to make a calculation based on the coils datasheets first.

@movax Thanks MAN for that link ! And guess how hard was for me AND actually I did not manage to find it ;( I always thought there was such or close relatively princeple used in Orbit , especially for "objects" that are in Earth's Orbit ! Thanks AGAIN ! A LOT !!

Wow. This seems... incredible! 0603, as in... the SMD size?! That's all it takes, with a coil (and presumably the earth's magnetic field?) to change/maintain the orbit of something this size?! Sheesh!

@Dimitar Tomov mentioned launching... which reminds me of something I heard once in school, completely unverified... but the amount of energy used by a 60W incandescent lightbulb is allegedly enough to launch that same lightbulb into orbit.

Did always think that rockets seemed a bit... crude... for launching things into orbit. There must be another method.

Thanks, @PointyOintment for the wikipedia link... learn something new every day!

@esot.eric.wazhung +1 that's what i meant about launchig capabilities -  Nuclear Power Plants are juts different Steam Machines for "God's sake" :|

Yeah, I dunno what'd be better... but it seems like something as simple as helicopters are better at initial lift-power... Rockets have always seemed, to me

(having never done any related math), like they're like trying to accelerate a car up-hill from stop in 5th gear... Seems like the only reason the "engine" doesn't stall is 'cause it's not actually physically/frictionally-attached to anything... It starts by "spinning-out" until the "car" eventually catches up with the "tires" (does it ever, in the case of a vertical launch?). Seems like launching something of this scale could be accomplished with some combination of a weather-balloon, a potato-gun, and a last-stage of something like a large hobby-rocket.

(Sorry @movax, this is obviously a bit off-topic).

Rockets launch in an control environment where they need to be "pushed up" enough so they can safely launch AND HAVE TIME FOR THE SEQUENCE to actually start boosting real torque and start accel. up (i explain it very freely, but as I'm no rocket scientist I prefer not to try to be something I am not). So you have:
"pre-ignite"

"push" over hatch/silo/... & "ignition" ~~~simultaneously~~~
"1st actual boosting/burning phase"

"2nd.." and so on

And actually the Control over the rocket AT THE VERY FIRST MOMENTS IS NONE ! Because You have no actual trust that can do a thing if the rocket FOR SOME reason does not start/ignite properly or tilt (which is absurd for nowadays tech, but still a possibility).

So Heli looks odd, but I got what you wanted to say, and still I believe those Earth-Space Planes are more a right direction, because I guess you don't want boosted flight up you want climbing up to a point where it will be better to launch - like (very rough example) a gigantic quad-copter :D I get it , and I also have similar ideq, but regarding something more close to an airplane that to a Heli. @esot.eric.wazhung - yes we are offtopic, but replying on post, and not replying generally to the project so I think (hope :D) @movax is (will) be OK with that offtopic (75% off :P) talk.

It's always fun to have a talk/chit-chat on Hackaday :) Always learning something new or finding people you can relate , find a common word with = )

Have a Great Weekend, I'm off cause outside ( in BG ) today is just 'soooo sunny' XD

On the board there can be seen a black device with blurred markings. What is it?

That´s the antenna. I blurred it so the brand mark doesn´t dominate the picture. It´s from Linx. I met the guys two days ago by accident - they visited the company I´m working for :)

Ah, for no advertising? :)

I have no problem with advertising - as long as the project gets sponsored :-D
I´ll talk to the marketing department...

Are the coils for attitude constantly on, or does the satellite just spin in orbit picking up quick instances of sunlight? 

The coils are controlled by the User´s BASIC program.
If nothing is done (coils off), then the charging will occur "pulse-wised" during the rotation of the chipstar. But the probability of a what I call "dark lock" is very low. The tumbling will be high enough to give the solar cell enough sunlight to fire up the system regularly. The better the User´s attitude control, the better the bhaviour of the sat.

Ok thanks for the explanation sounds great, would love to make a similar project 

Project seems solid not sure if i would be able to get in into space but what about distances? Just a Quick question on that.

We already have a satellite in orbit - so we are sure we can get this one in space too. Actually we are in talk with launch providers to find the best solution for the launch.
With "distances" you mean the orbital height? It will be below 400km to avoid space debris. The best choice actually is the ISS:
We already have some offers. but please excuse that we don´t give this information away at thiis time, because we are still trying to find the best option.

Will the CHIPSAT have solar panels?
Or is there enough internal energy to power chipsat for the duration of its orbit?

Are these specifications available? If so, where can we find them?

There is a small solar panel which charges up two supercaps.

After charging, the chipstar can run for several seconds,. The TX duration will be about 2 seconds per charge.

Depending on the position/rotation towards the sun I expect a charge duration of 20 seconds. So it´s in pulsed operation.

The technical specs are not ready yet. I am waiting for the next PCB revision which will be ready in about 2 weeks, then I´ll prepare a technical datasheet.

How does somebody get involved in such a project in the first place?

In my case, i joined a cubesat project at the university.

After the PoecketQubs showed up, i build one and sent it into orbit together with a small group. It was the pocketqub satellite WREN

I think there are many cubesat projects, mainly at universities, where you can get involved in.

Nice! Unfortunately my university (or any other in the vicinity) doesne't have such a project.
Are there any true scientific experiments that can be done on such simple satelites?

The chipsats main purpose would be either educational or swarm-satellite research. For example to realize a radio network.

In cubesats, you can even perform biological experiments, there´s plenty of room for a payload.

If this project is successful, we could offer the deployer for your own projects.

Will it be possible to put on your own hardware (i.e. motion tracking via accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer)?

If somebody designed they're own PCB with the same weight and form factor of the chipstar would it be possible to get it launched with the rest?

Regardless, I am still very interested.

Unfortunately, we can provide the chipstar only as is. The problem is, that we need to go through the flight qualification process. With external manufactured hardware we would have to make the process for every customized board: outgassing, vacuum thermal, shaker, space debris analysis, frequency coordination (with responsible HAM) and international coordination at the ITU. This all costs muchtime and money.

Anyway, if you can provide the flight qualification we can talk about the price - but i can tell directly that it will be more expensive than the standard chipstar and that we can´t provide any guarantees in that case.

For information. The actual hardware on the chipstar contains a magnetometer (which can be used for rotation measurements too), an RGB light sensor and three coils for rotation/attitude control.

What we CAN do: If you are a HAM operator you can apply for a frequency coordination at the IARU and ITU to get your own frequency (we´ll provide you the necessary transceiver specs) When you got the papers, we will change your chipstar to that frequency then.

What components are you using for this project? Are they milspec? radhard? Or just plain consumer components?

They are just consumer components. I check the datasheets for appropriate temperature ratings and leave a good safety margin.

For one month of operation the risk of a unit fail is not very big - most microcontrollers and other parts will not suffer from the space conditions.

Flash memory fails after a proton hit don´t happen that often and the passive parts won´t get damaged so easily.

How are you dealing with solar radiation? do you have shielding or 3 independent processors in consensus arrangement?

The chipstars have only one processor. The lifetime of chipsats in LEO will be only a few weeks. I don´t expect many fails.

Different case is the deployer: It will have three independent systems. Two microprocessors and one discrete timer. All will be shielded within the cubesat chassis.

The deployment mechanism will consist of nichrome wire cutters and a mechanical motor driven release shaft as a backup.

So they are going to operate for only few months?
Did you consider adding coils in three axis so that the satellite can be rotated with earths magnetic field? I saw some other microsatellites had that.

They will operate only for a few weeks. The reason is that many tiny satellites would be a threat to other spacecrafts when put into a higher orbit, so the mission duration is limited by international regulations.

According the coils: YES, the chipsats have coils in all three directions, accessible by BASIC-commands (see the PDF in the link section)

What about the radio link?

How big the ground station will need to be to communicate with such a tiny satelite?

Despite the small form factor the signal is not that weak.

A standard crossed yagi with LNA will do the job.

After the final board is ready I´ll ask for a detailed TX pattern analysis at the universtiy, then I´ll be able to give you more information.

The transmitter on board generates 100mW of power - but as we use a chip antenna only a small part of it will be transmitted. Anyway, in CW or Hellschreiber modes it should be no problem to receive it with standard equipment. Infos will follow...

In the pictures there are two boards. Are they the same thing but just a different version? Is the longer one the latest version?

The long one is the chipstar board, the square shaped is the development-kit. It´s got the same hardware plus an USB programmer and plastic enclosure.

I think this project would be an awesome opportunity to get some first hand experience in aerospace engineering!
I know its early still, but what do you think the kickstarter contribution will be?
What do you think the timeline is for this project???

We hope to get at least 50 chipsats into a 1U-Cubesat.
If we get additional educational funding then the Chipstars will be will be somewhere in the 200$ range. But that´s an optimistic guess.

The devkits will be available for less - just to cover the material and development costs - maybe around 50$ to 100$, i can´t say for now.
Assuming for no additional funding - the launch costs of approximately 50000$ have to be divided by the number of chipstars.
Of course we will give our best to make the chipstars affordable.

According the timeline:

The chipsat is almost finished, the devkit too, so in about a month, the devkit will be available.

We are still working on the deployer, the kickstarter campaign and the paperwork for launch. I assume about one year until launch.