LSF-OPSSAT-SIDLOC · Experiment

OPS-SAT SIDLOC

On-orbit demonstration of SIDLOC beacons aboard ESA's OPS-SAT flying laboratory.

FLOWN 2021→2024
OPSAT SIDLOC transmission
LSF · OPS-SAT SIDLOC deliverables

OPS-SAT SIDLOC was LSF’s in-orbit precursor experiment that validated the SIDLOC DSSS scheme by transmitting SIDLOC-modulated uplinks from SatNOGS ground stations to ESA’s OPS-SAT satellite and processing the I/Q captures on-board and on the ground.

What LSF does

LSF ported the SIDLOC GNU Radio flowgraph (gr-sidloc) to OPS-SAT’s SEPP, added a streaming I/Q FPGA design (scatter-gather DMA with dual-clock FIFO) to the OPS-SAT SDR, and ran campaigns from the ‘Talos’ (Chania) and ‘Archodiko’ (Kalamata) TX-capable SatNOGS stations.

Where we’re going

Experiment complete — informed the SIDLOC protocol refinements and link-budget choices that shaped the flight-article design used on Ariane 6.

Where the project stands

Completed 2021–2024 under ESA OSIP OPS-SAT Discovery campaign. Three experiment runs executed; characteristic SIDLOC GLRT peaks and matching CW-tone Doppler confirmed successful signal identification on-board. OPS-SAT host mission ended on re-entry May 2024.

Milestones

  • 2022-04 — Selected in ESA OPS-SAT Experimenters call
  • 2023-05 — Kick-off meeting
  • 2023-2024 — Three experiment runs from Talos (Chania) and Archodiko (Kalamata)
  • 2024 — Final Review and Executive Summary Report delivered

License

Open source (GPL family)