NUTSat

NUTSat [NFU]

NutSat (NutSat-2) is a Taiwanese 2U CubeSat built by National Formosa University for an educational and amateur radio communications mission. The satellite was designed and operated by students and faculty in Taiwan to demonstrate small-satellite technologies and amateur radio data relay in low Earth orbit.

The mission’s primary objective was to provide an educational platform for satellite design, integration, and operations while supporting the amateur radio community. NutSat transmitted telemetry messages and accepted uplink commands using the same radio frequency channel. The satellite also supported amateur packet radio operations by receiving packet data from ground stations, storing it onboard, and forwarding it later to other users, enabling a simple store-and-forward communications service. In addition, the mission investigated the possibility of receiving Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) signals to track aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles from orbit.

The spacecraft was developed at National Formosa University in Taiwan as part of a university satellite program focused on hands-on training in space engineering. The satellite incorporated amateur radio communications hardware capable of handling both telemetry transmission and command reception on a shared frequency channel. The onboard communications system also supported packet radio relay functions for the amateur radio community.

NutSat was built in the 2U CubeSat form factor. The spacecraft carried a telemetry beacon, command receiver, and packet data relay capability for amateur radio users. The communications payload allowed reception, temporary storage, and retransmission of packet data. The satellite also carried experimental capability to receive ADS-B transmissions from aircraft. Power was supplied by body-mounted solar cells with onboard batteries, while attitude stabilization relied on a basic CubeSat attitude control configuration suitable for a small educational spacecraft.

NutSat was launched aboard a Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) rocket as part of the Dragon CRS-26 cargo mission to the International Space Station. After delivery to the station, the satellite was deployed from the ISS on 29 December 2022. The satellite remained operational until late 2022 and reentered the Earth’s atmosphere on 4 April 2023.

NUTSAT 3 was launched in March 2026 on the third flight of the KAIROS launch vehicle, but failed to reach orbit.