UNN and Geoscan present the Lobachevsky satellite at the CIPR conference
Lobachevsky University and Geoscan presented at the conference “Digitalisation of Industrial Russia” (CIPR) a mock-up of the Lobachevsky satellite they are jointly developing. The spacecraft is based on the Geoscan 16U platform and is part of the Space-π educational project. The project is implemented with the support of the Innovation Promotion Foundation and the Nizhny Novgorod Research and Education Centre.
The Lobachevsky satellite is Russia's first CubeSat 16U spacecraft designed for agro-ecological research. It is equipped with hyperspectral and multispectral cameras to monitor vegetation, and has an artificial intelligence-based data processing system. It uses a high-speed COMMX transmitter for data transmission, providing speeds of up to 250 Mbps.
The spacecraft is also equipped with a radio signal repeater, enabling radio amateurs to communicate over distances of up to 3,000 kilometers. The satellite's frequencies have been coordinated with the International Amateur Radio Union.
Of particular interest is the memristor experiment, which involves elements that change their resistance under the influence of an electric charge. UNN scientists are planning to study their performance in space.
The Lobachevsky satellite is scheduled for launch in the autumn of 2025. The craft will fly at an altitude of 515 kilometers in a near-polar orbit, providing opportunities for scientific research and technology development.
UNN embarked on the Lobachevsky satellite project in March last year, and it is currently at the final stage. Final assembly, acceptance and testing are scheduled for the coming months, after which the satellite will be ready for launch, due in the autumn.
At the CIPR conference, the Geoscan Company presented a full-size mock-up of the 16U CubeSat satellite platform. The satellite's dimensions are quite modest at only 20 by 20 by 40 centimeters. Once assembled, it will weigh just over 30 kilograms.
"This is an extremely complex piece of engineering equipment. In extreme conditions of cosmic radiation, it will travel at a speed of 8 km/s in an orbit 500 km high and perform several complex scientific tasks simultaneously. These include remote sensing of the Earth with two spectral cameras and testing a set of memristors developed at our university," said Maxim Zharkov, head of the Lobachevsky satellite project at UNN.
