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BLUEsat, an acronym of Basic Low-Earth-orbit University of NSW Experimental satellite, is a digital amateur radio satellite being designed and built solely by students here at the University of NSW.
The satellite is a small cube measuring approximately 260mm on each side, excluding antennae, and weighs around 14kg. Powered by fixed solar panels on each face, it will carry a flight computer, radio transmitters and receivers, a power-control system, battery packs for when its orbit places it in the Earth's shadow, magnets to passively stabilise the satellite and align it with the Earth's magnetic field, and will be controlled via a dedicated communications groundstation here at UNSW. BLUEsat will be placed in an approximately circular orbit at an altitude of around 750km that will take it over the poles. At this altitude, the satellite will travel around the Earth at a rate of around once every 90 minutes.
BLUEsat is primarily an educational satellite, designed to give students at UNSW space experience which they could not obtain elsewhere.
