BME’s new small satellite, launched into space by a SpaceX rocket, has started to emit signals. 

The project was financed, among others, by the National Media and Communications Authority and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Instruments from three other universities for independent experiments to be carried out on board were also launched into space.

The Hungarian small satellite was deployed on 12 June by a Falcon-9 rocket operated by SpaceX. After reaching a speed of 27 574 km/h, the rocket successfully launched the larger Italian satellite carrying the Hungarian PocketQube at an altitude of 545 km above the Earth’s surface. The MRC-100 small satellite was deployed from the ejector on 22 June at 14:10 local time. According to telemetry data taken during MRC-100's pass over Hungary between 0:21-0:33 on the night of 23 June, the satellite woke up at 15:00 local time and is in good condition. The on-board batteries, which have been discharged since last December, have been recharged. The automated operation of the satellite and the start-up of the on-board systems will now take place. You can find out more about the operation of each subsystem at the website of the project's tracking station: https://gnd.bme.hu/mrc100/

The main sponsors of the project included the National Media and Communications Authority (NMHH), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Amateur Radio Digital Communications.

The 5th Hungarian satellite, developed by students, has a nominal size of 5x5x15 cm, weighs 583 grammes, is classed a 3-PocketQube, which refers to its size, and has been named MRC-100 in honour of the Radio Club of Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

The small satellite was designed and developed by university students as part of their academic programme, under the professional guidance of university professors, over a period of almost one and a half years at the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory, operating at BME’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Department of Broadband Infocommunications and Electromagnetic Theory, in cooperation with the university’s Radio Club.

Instruments from three other universities for independent experiments to be carried out on board the small satellite were also launched into space. The University of Szeged’s module compares different temperature sensors in a space environment. The experiment by the Széchenyi István University of Győr aims to validate low-power microcontroller modules in space. The University of Debrecen has sent an experimental dosimeter into space on board the satellite. It is controlled by a microcontroller and its role is to provide information on the radioactive radiation field along the satellite’s orbit.

The NMHH not only financed the university projects, but also conducted the frequency coordination procedures. In Hungary, the NMHH is the authority responsible for frequency coordination procedures. Its role is twofold: on the one hand, it registers the requests for satellite orbits and orbit positions for domestic satellites, and on the other hand, it handles the observations of satellite orbits and orbital positions coordinated by the authorities of other countries, supported by interference calculations, should they affect the domestic radio systems.

Photo: BME’s Department of Broadband Infocommunications and Electromagnetic Theory

Hungary's first satellite was the MaSat-1 cubesat, launched in 2012 and assembled by students and teachers of BME’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, to be followed by other Hungarian small satellites: SMOG-P, ATL-1, SMOG-1. The recently launched satellite, deployed on 12 June, is named MRC-100 in honour of the University’s Radio Club, which will turn 100 years old in 2024. The club has played a key role in the development of each small satellite.

The MRC-100, measuring 5x5x15 cm, is the largest of the SMOG series and is the result of almost one and a half years of collaboration between BME's professors, researchers and students. András Gschwindt, honorary associate professor of the Department of Broadband Infocommunications and Electromagnetic Theory at BME’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics (VIK) previously told us that they had built everything they could into the small satellite to utilise the available space to a maximum. In addition to the operational subsystems and the equipment for measuring elecrosmog, an Attitude Control Subsystem, a GPS and a camera have been fitted on board also.

The previously launched three other satellites from BME were used to detect and measure electromagnetic pollution around the Earth within the frequency band of terrestrial TV transmitters. Based on these observations the world's first map was produced, showing the pollution of these bands. The MRC-100's primary task is to test a much wider range of frequencies. A spectrum analyzer with an antenna, capable of measuring in the 28–1766 MHz and 2000–3120 MHz spectrums, has been developed and installed on board the satellite. The results of the measurements are transmitted to Earth in the 436.72 MHz and 2.2675 GHz bands. The signals transmitted by MRC-100 are received and the satellite is operated at BME’s satellite control station.

The NMHH is already well established in space telecommunications, having coordinated commercial satellites since 1997 and contributed to the launch of several picosatellites and nano-satellites since 2007, both as a sponsor and as a licensing authority, also involved in international coordination.

Rector’s Cabinet Communications Directorate