# INSPIRE-SAT 7, a Second CubeSat to Measure the Earth's Energy Budget and to Probe the Ionosphere
## 3 Description of the INSPIRE-SAT 7 Mission and Mission Operations
### The Space Segment
#### 3.2.5 The SPINO Amateur Radio Payload and the LATMOS Audio Transponder (LAT 2)  
SPINO (\(90\times 95\times 8\) mm, 80 g, 200 mW OAP) is a versatile telecommunication solution suitable for CubeSat. Operating in UHF and VHF bands, it features tight integration with amateur radio service and the worldwide amateur radio community. The development of the SPINO payload was initiated by enthusiasts involved in non-profit/educational space  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l} \hline \hline
**Parameters** & **Li-Fi Payload Performances** \\ \hline Parameters & Li-Fi payload characteristics \\ Protocol of communication & I2C \\ Data Rate & 5 Mbps \\ Distance of communication & 1 to 2 cm \\ Field of view & \(10^{\circ}\) \\ Wavelength & \(940\,\mathrm{nm}\) \\ PCB dimensions & \(90\times 95\times 8\,\mathrm{mm}\) \\ Weight & \(70\,\mathrm{g}\) \\ Consumption & \(1\,\mathrm{W}\) peak \\ Power Supply & \(5\,\mathrm{V}\) \\ Telemetry & Data rate, latency, jitter \\ Telemetry & \(<\)200 Bytes per communication with the OBC \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 5: Li-Fi payload characteristics.  
projects. Since 2019, the project is supported by the joint efforts of two non-profit organizations: AMSAT-Francophone ([[http://site.amsat-f.org](http://site.amsat-f.org)]([http://site.amsat-f.org](http://site.amsat-f.org)) (accessed on 12 November 2021)) and the hackerspace Electrolab ([[http://electrolab.fr](http://electrolab.fr)]([http://electrolab.fr](http://electrolab.fr)) (accessed on 12 November 2021)).  
The SPINO board features functions dedicated to the spacecraft infrastructure:  
* Receiver function for remote control commands from ground,
* Managed or Autonomous beacon (support for OBC failure),
* Data stream (uplink and downlink),
* Antenna deploy support.  
The SPINO board also features functions dedicated to the amateur radio community with a versatile digital transponder and a digital mailbox service.  
The SPINO payload will be a pre-validated open source brick available off the shelf for any CubeSat mission. By the way, the goal is to maximize compatibility (standardized interfaces with UART, I2C, SPI, controller area network flexible data-rate, and standardized PC-104 form factor), and maximize reliability (wide supply voltage range, fail-safe on key points, low power consumption, especially in idle to face failure situations).  
SPINO operates in the Amateur Radio service bands, and features two full transceivers:  
* VHF: TX (+30 dBm) and RX 144-146 MHz,
* UHF: TX (+30 dBm) and RX 430-440 MHz.  
For this particular operation, SPINO SC will be 'locked' on the 'TX UHF/RX VHF' mode (requested frequencies: i.e., UHF 435.200 MHz and VHF 145.830 MHz). In particular, VHF TX path will be unpopulated for safety reasons.  
This mission, designed in cooperation with the LATMOS laboratory, is a key point for the project. The 'in-flight' validation will allow SPINO to be seriously considered as a relevant solution for future missions.  
Furthermore, the INSPIRE-SAT 7 mission will provide a new LATMOS FM amateur radio transponder (LAT 2) similar to that used on board UVSQ-SAT (LAT 1). The transponder mode works in the amateur-satellite service allocations of 145.8-146 MHz (uplink) and 435-438 MHz (downlink). The single channel FM transponder can be used by radio amateurs to communicate with each other via the CubeSat. The transponder offers a'squelch' functionality whereby it only activates after the received signal strength reaches a certain user-programmable threshold.  
Experience feedback from the UVSQ-SAT mission shows that the audio transponder cannot be used permanently (integrity of the equipment, power budget). To overcome this, the INSPIRE-SAT 7 mission will embark a new amateur radio payload (SPINO) so that it can be permanently operational.