ANT61 Beacon S
ANT61
0.25U independent satellite recovery and telemetry module, 375 g, with its own battery, GNSS and two-way Iridium link; TRL-9 since February 2024.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Mass
- 0.375 kg
- Power
- 0 W
- Largest dimension
- 95.9 mm
- Design life
- 6 years
- Lead time
- 2.76 months
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Data volume
- 2.2 MB
- Size class
- 0.25U
- Mass
- 375 g (without cables)
- Dimensions
- 25.0 x 90.2 x 95.9 mm (+/- 0.2 mm)
- Lead time
- 12 weeks
- Operating temperature
- -40 to +70 C
- Shock
- 10 g
- Voltage on power line
- 3.5 to 36 V
- Highest supported orbit
- 700 km
- Design life in LEO
- 6 years
- Operating power consumption
- 0 W (runs from internal battery under normal operation)
- Charging power consumption
- 4.20 to 5.0 W
- Transmit frequency
- 1,616.0 to 1,626.5 MHz
- Receive frequency
- 1,525.0 to 1,626.5 MHz
- RF power output
- 0.5 W average, 1.5 W peak
- Max antenna gain
- 3 dBi
- Interfaces
- USART (RS-232/RS-422/RS-485), CAN-FD, SPI, I2C
- Encryption
- AES 256-bit hardware encryption
- Compatibility
- CubeSat, PC/104 corner hole pattern and connector placement, Pumpkin stack
- Maturity
- TRL-9 since February 2024
- Export status
- Made in Australia, non-ITAR
- Availability
- Available
About
The Beacon is designed to provide a way to restore the normal operations of a satellite in the event of partial failure or anomaly. It independently collects and transmits satellite health data (telemetry), primarily for anomaly root cause analysis. The device has an independent power supply (batteries), an attitude determination system and a GNSS module for precise orbital parameter estimation, and provides a two-way continuous connection to mission control.
The Beacon lets the satellite operations team receive a constant stream of telemetry. It has been specifically designed to function during operational anomalies and outside the normal operating conditions for LEO satellites, providing a backup communication system that can be used for critical satellite firmware updates and for regaining control of the satellite.
Features include real-time 24/7 telemetry independent of orbital position or attitude control, operation for up to one week after main satellite bus failure, tolerance of micro-debris collision, support for all common satellite internal networks (USART with RS-232/RS-422/RS-485, CAN-FD, SPI, I2C), direct connection to satellite components, command relay to the onboard computer, and firmware updates for microcontrollers and OS-based OBCs. All communication packets to and from the satellite bus are hardware-encrypted with AES 256-bit, and commands remain cryptographically opaque to ANT61 and intermediaries.
Beacon is made in Australia, which means light-weight export controls (non-ITAR) and no separate spectrum licence for data exchange, as it uses inter-satellite links with the RF licence held by the constellation operator (Iridium).
Documentation
- 6981ef31a138f8484b962dd8_ANT61 Beacon S Rev I Datasheet (1).pdf PDF source: cdn.prod.website-files.com ↗
Need the full ICD, test reports or a specific revision? Ask the supplier directly.