Hacking yourself a satellite – recovering BEESAT-1

Piston Mining Machine

Hall 1
Hardware and production
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We are aware of audio issues, especially during the first day of presentations (2024-12-27). Some talks have been released in preview versions but are still happening behind the scenes.

In 2013, the satellite BEESAT-1 began returning invalid telemetry data, rendering it effectively unusable. Since the satellite is expected to remain in orbit for at least 20 years, recovering the satellite and updating the flight software will enable new experiments to be performed on existing hardware. However, in addition to being unable to obtain telemetry data, the satellite does not have functional software update capabilities. This lecture will describe how to correctly diagnose faults without telemetry by combining space and computer security thinking, implement software update functions without telemetry, and restore satellites in September 2024.

In 2009, BEESAT-1 was launched into low-Earth orbit as the first 1U cubesat of the Technical University of Berlin. In 2011, satellites began returning invalid telemetry data. After spending a short time diagnosing the problem, the operator switched to the redundant onboard computer and initially resolved the issue. However, in 2013, the problem recurred on a second computer. With no other onboard computers to switch to, operations essentially stopped, except for occasional checks every few years to see if the satellite was still responding to commands.

Restoring BEESAT-1 to operational status is particularly interesting considering that it is currently estimated that BEESAT-1 will remain in space for another 20 years or more due to its higher orbit, while many other spacecraft in the BEESAT series have since returned to operational status. attraction. In addition, the spacecraft is equipped with many sensors and actuators that are underutilized during the primary mission and can be used during extended missions. However, in order to take full advantage of all available hardware on the spacecraft, software updates are required. Unfortunately, the software update feature has not yet completed upon launch and is therefore in a non-functional state. Alternative solutions must be devised.

After extensive efforts to diagnose the telemetry issues, develop a solution that would resolve the telemetry issues and allow new flight software to be uploaded, and implement the solution on an actual spacecraft in orbit, the satellite was finally restored to operational status in 2024. A software update will be performed in September.

This presentation will cover the recovery process from start to finish, including:

– A brief overview of how BEESAT-1 works and how it operates

– Diagnose telemetry loss when telemetry data cannot be accessed

– Design solutions to diagnosed problems, including:

– Figure out how to upload new software when there is no functionality available for the task

– A development and test setup for flight software development was established several years after the original setup was dismantled

– Develop a patch to return the satellite to operational status and establish the ability to upload new flight software, while being constrained by the lack of a proper upload method and without compromising the safety of the spacecraft

– Implement this solution on an actual spaceship in space

– Brief introduction to the current status of the spacecraft and remaining future missions

Along the way, we’ll share some of the fun and unexpected moments we’ve experienced using software and hardware from 15 years ago. Conversations are likely to be both technical and non-technical. I hope to provide enough background information so that you can understand it even if you don’t have a background in space systems or computer security.

Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

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