EduSat flight manual

Mission briefing

Kia ora, future engineer

A CubeSat is a fully working mini-satellite, often no bigger than a tissue box. Real ones orbit Earth doing science, relaying communications and testing new space technology. EduSat is your training CubeSat — it won't fly to orbit, but it carries the same kinds of subsystems as the real thing.

Every system you build today has a working cousin flying about 500km above New Zealand right now, aboard TPA-1. Build EduSat well, and you'll understand exactly how it — and its successor, TPA-2 — actually work.

Gear check

Before you start

Lay everything out and tick it off. Kits can vary a little between schools, so check with your teacher if something on this list is missing.

Build log

Stage by stage

Three curriculum stages — work through them in order or jump to where your team is.

Mission control

Talk to your satellite

No hardware wired up yet? Practice here first — these are the exact words your real EduSat is listening for over the radio.

These numbers are simulated for practice. Once your hardware is wired up and the code is uploaded, real sensor data will come back here instead.

Talk to it for real: the ground station script

This simulator runs in your browser, but browsers can't normally talk to a serial port. To send real commands and log real telemetry once your hardware is built, run this small Python script on the computer connected to your ground LoRa dongle (or directly to the Arduino via USB for Stage 1).

1. Plug in your ground LoRa dongle (Stage 2/3) or the Arduino itself (Stage 1) and note which port it appears as.
2. Run python edusat_ground_station.py --list if you're not sure which port to use.
3. Run python edusat_ground_station.py --port <your port> — add --log flight.csv to save every line with a timestamp.
4. Type a command (temp, mag, imu, all, stop) and press enter, same as in the simulator above.

Payload development

Build a payload of your own

EduSat's starter sensors are just the beginning. Wire on an extra payload board over CAN and give your satellite a real mission of its own — this is exactly the kind of challenge TPA-2's real schools payload competition is built around.

Payload interface

Note: TPA-2's real schools-payload slot carries CAN and power on a single combined 4-pin connector. EduSat splits them across two connectors instead — a deliberate trade-off so power can never be cross-wired into a data pin — so match the signal types (3.3V, CAN_H/L), not the connector count, if you're aiming for compatibility.

Design your payload in KiCad

Every real TPA-SI board — including TPA-1 and TPA-2 themselves — is designed in KiCad, a free, open-source electronics design tool. Capturing your payload as a proper schematic (not just a breadboard photo) is how a design gets reviewed, shared with your team, and eventually turned into a real PCB.

1. Install KiCad

1. Download KiCad (free) from kicad.org/download — versions 7 or 8 both work fine for this.
2. Windows: run the installer and accept the defaults. macOS: open the .dmg and drag KiCad to Applications. Linux: use your distro's package manager (e.g. sudo apt install kicad on Ubuntu/Debian) or the instructions on the download page.
3. Open KiCad once it's installed to confirm it launches — you don't need to create a project yet.

2. Start from the provided schematic

Rather than starting from a blank sheet, every team starts from the same base circuit: the microcontroller, power and CAN/I2C interface circuitry from TPA-1's real Thermal Monitoring Board, with the temperature-sensing and analog filtering stripped back out. It's the same MSP430FR5859 microcontroller, power interface, JTAG/reset, CAN interface and I2C port used on real TPA-SI hardware — proven circuitry, ready for you to build your payload's own sensing circuit around.

1. Open KiCad, then File > Open (or drag the downloaded file onto the KiCad window) to open EduSat_Payload_Starter.kicad_sch directly in Eeschema, KiCad's schematic editor.
2. Have a look around first — zoom into each labelled block (Power interface, Microcontroller, JTAG, CAN Interface, I2C port) and compare it against the Payload interface table above.
3. Note the spare MCU pins already labelled on the sheet (A0, A3–A6, A12–A15) — these are analog inputs freed up when the temperature circuitry was removed, and are fair game for your own sensors if you want to use them instead of (or alongside) the CAN interface.

3. Add your payload circuit

1. Place > Symbol (or press A) to add parts. Search the built-in libraries for your sensor or IC by name — most common parts (op-amps, sensors, connectors, passives) are already in KiCad's standard libraries.
2. Wire your circuit to the existing MCU pins or to the CAN/power connectors already on the sheet — don't redraw the interface circuitry, just connect into it.
3. Give every net a sensible label (Place > Net Label) rather than trailing wires everywhere — it keeps the sheet readable and matches how the rest of the schematic is done.
4. Add your own title block details (Place > Text or double-click the title block) so your team and payload idea are identified on the sheet.

4. Check it, then share it

1. Run Inspect > Electrical Rules Checker (ERC) and resolve anything it flags — unconnected pins are the most common issue for a first schematic.
2. Save the file and bring it to your next check-in — a real schematic, even a rough one, is far easier for a mentor to give feedback on than a description.

Does your idea pass the test?

These are the same three tests TPA-SI's panel uses to judge real proposals for TPA-2's schools payload slot.

1. 1Does something meaningful and measurable — not just blink a light.
2. 2Is reproducible in a classroom setting, so other teams can generate comparison data.
3. 3Is buildable by secondary school students with reasonable supervision and budget.

From idea to integration

Three example payloads

Flight glossary

Mission vocabulary

Short definitions to start. Click any term for the full detail.