The connection to the satellites Koit and Hämarik was achieved from Tartu Observatory

Viljo Allik, Chief Engineer of the Tartu Observatory, and researcher Tõnis Eenmäe achieved a connection to satellites Koit (Dusk) and Hämarik (Dawn) in cooperation with TalTech's software specialist. Koit had been orbiting in silence for almost a year and a half. Hämarik joined Koit in September this year.

Hämarik signaled on November 15th. On November 21st, the Tartu Observatory also received the long-awaited data package from Koit. Initially, the satellites send information about their subsystems' status: The basic systems of Hämarik are operating normally, and the batteries are charged. Later, the data can also be, for example, photos taken by satellite onboard cameras and other scientific information.

Connecting to Hämarik was a lucky hit. "After a failed attempt to connect to the satellite during the week, we decided to try one last time. That's what we did, but most of the time of the overflight, Hämarik didn't give any sign of life," said Viljo Allik. "But then, almost before the end of the overflight, I noticed two telemetry packets on the screen. The sender address was ES1WS, which means Hämarik!"

Koit and Hämarik are satellites of Tallinn University of Technology and AS Datel. They can be observed from Estonia about six times a day, and each overflight lasts about 12 minutes. You can follow Satellite news on the TalTech website.

More information:
Viljo Allik
Chief Engineer of the Tartu Observatory
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viljo.allik [ät] ut.ee