Citizen Explorer-I: an Earth observer with new small satellite technology

Citizen Explorer-I (CX-I), designed and built by students at Colorado Space Grant Consortium in Boulder to provide global ozone monitoring, employs a unique mission architecture and several innovative technologies during its mission. The mission design allows K-12 schools around the world to be involved as ground stations available to receive science data and telemetry from CX-I. Another important technology allows the spacecraft to be less reliant on ground operators using mission-specific software packages. Within the communications system of CX-I, Internet protocols are the main method for communicating with the satellite. As Internet protocols have not been widely used in satellite communication, CX-I provides an opportunity to study the effectiveness of using Internet protocols over radio links. The attitude determination and control system (ADCS) on CX-I uses a unique gravity gradient boom design constructed of tape measure material. These new technologies' effectiveness will be tested for use on future small satellite projects within the space satellite industry.