FASTRAC (Formation Autonomy Satellite with Thrust Relnav Attitude and Crosslink)

Status: Current project, April 2003 -- March 2007
Type: Student Built Satellites

FASTRAC is the University of Texas at Austin's first student built satellite project, planned for launch into space in late 2006 or 2007. 

The mission, which is the national winner of the University Nanosatellite-3 competition, involves two 30 kg satellites which separate and perform formation flying experiments in space.  The three experiments planned are: (1) demonstration of an advanced GPS receiver developed at UT-Austin that performs relative navigation and attitude determination, (2) demonstration of a new plasma microthruster device, and (3) demonstration of distributed ground network tracking of multiple satellites using amateur radio frequencies. 

FASTRAC was delivered to the Air Force Research Labs in Albuquerque, NM in June 2006 where it is undergoing environmental testing.  This is a prerequisite step for integration to a launch vehicle.

For more information about FASTRAC, please see the FASTRAC project web page.

Personnel Eric Hagen Glenn Lightsey Sebastian Munoz

Facility Satellite Design Lab W.R. Woolrich Laboratories 210 E. 24th Street. Room 407 Austin, TX, 78712

Related Publications

Conference Papers
G. Holt, T. Campbell, E.G. Lightsey, "GPS, Distributed Communications, and Thruster Experiments on the University of Texas FASTRAC Mission," AMSAT 22nd Annual Space Symposium, Washington, D.C., October, 2004. See full text.

Smith, A., Muñoz, S., Hagen, E., Johnson, G.P., and Lightsey, E.G., "The FASTRAC Satellites: Software Implementation and Testing", Proceedings of the 22nd Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, No. SSC08-XII-4, Logan, UT, 11-14 August, 2008.  See full text.

Conference Presentations
Smith, A., Muñoz, S., Hagen, E., Johnson, G.P., and Lightsey, E.G., "The FASTRAC Satellites: Software Implementation and Testing", Proceedings of the 22nd Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites, No. SSC08-XII-4, Logan, UT, 11-14 August, 2008.
See full text.

Master's Thesis
Greenbaum, J., "Flight Unit Fabrication of a University Nanosatellite:  The FASTRAC Experience," The University of Texas at Austin, Dec. 2006.
See full text.

Thomas Campbell, "Design and Use of the FASTRAC Nanosatellite Bus", Master's Thesis.See full text.