SATLLA2.0: An Open Platform for Picosatellites

“Space is hard” is a common expression among researchers and engineers who are trying to design, construct, test, and deploy satellites. This article describes the design, development, and flight testing of a picosatellite for communication experiments and educational initiatives. The presented picosatellite, named SATLLA-2B, weighs 0.35 kg and has recently completed a full operational year and a half in orbit. The picosatellite was fabricated using low-cost and commercially available components. It contains a high-resolution camera, an attitude determination and control system, a payload board with edge-AI capabilities, and a long-range (LoRa)-based communication framework that enables two-way communication when line of sight is available. In addition, communication with the satellite is possible via other LoRa-based ground stations, eliminating the need to maintain a dedicated ground station. Flight test results demonstrated that the picosatellite successfully achieved its primary mission objectives. These included demonstrating LoRa radio frequency technology for ad-hoc ground station communication (both uplink and downlink), relaying messages between two ground stations, and optimizing power management, among other accomplishments. We conjecture that the suggested open source may help a wide range of researchers to enter the world of new space by simplifying the design, contraction, and deployment of picosatellites.