Malang, Jawa Timur (ANTARA) - Malang, East Java - Brawijaya University (UB) has developed a CubeSat foundation toolkit and an interactive satellite learning platform under its Globalizing UB program, as the university works toward becoming a leader in satellite technology and communication in Indonesia.
The project brings together lecturers from two of UB’s faculties and researchers from the National Research and Innovation Agency’s (BRIN’s) Satellite Technology Research Center (PRTS), who joined the UB team in Malang to discuss CubeSat development.
Leading the research is Mahdin Rohmatillah, S.T., M.Sc., M.T., Ph.D., a lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering at UB’s Faculty of Engineering (FT UB).
“We want to build UB’s capabilities in satellite technology step by step, from the ground station to the classroom, so that UB can take the lead in developing satellite technology and communication in Indonesia,” he said.
He is joined by Ir. Muhammad Fauzan Edy Purnomo, S.T., M.T., Ph.D., ASEAN Eng., from the same department, along with Dr. Kasyful Amron, S.T., M.Sc., and Widhi Yahya, S.Kom., M.T., M.Sc., Ph.D., from the Department of Informatics Engineering at the Faculty of Computer Science (FILKOM UB).
At the heart of the project is the UB-CubeSat Foundation Toolkit v.1, an emulator that uses software-defined radio (SDR) to recreate the communication link between a satellite and a ground station.
“With this emulator, students and researchers can study and test how data moves between a satellite and a ground station right here in the lab, without waiting for a satellite to be in orbit,” the project leader explained.
The team has also developed artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to control the satellite’s mechanical systems.
Beyond the lab, the project reaches into the classroom through Jelajah Satelit, a game-based learning platform that introduces satellite technology to students from elementary school all the way to university.
The platform is built around UB-1U, a 1U CubeSat designed by UB, which plays the role of a “space postman”: it picks up messages as it passes overhead, stores them, and delivers them to UB’s ground station in Malang.
Users can send short messages of up to 20 bytes from places such as Central Kalimantan, Jayapura and Nairobi, learning along the way why shorter messages travel faster and hold up better against the Doppler effect.
Lessons progress in stages, from an introduction to satellites to how they actually work, covering orbits, the anatomy of a 1U satellite, energy, radio and link budgets, before following a satellite’s journey from the ground to orbit.
Each module closes with a quiz, and learners who complete it earn a postmark on that module’s stamp in their digital passport.
“We want to introduce satellite technology as early as possible. Through games, even elementary school students can understand how a satellite works,” he added.
The collaboration with BRIN also extended to teaching. Two PRTS BRIN researchers, Suraduita Mupasanta, S.T., M.Sc., and Maulana Ali Arifin, S.T., M.Tech., M.Sc. (EI), gave a guest lecture on satellite technology to undergraduate electrical engineering students at FT UB, complete with simple hands-on exercises in satellite communication.
Overall, the research supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure.
Tags: Brawijaya University, Globalizing UB, CubeSat, satellite technology, BRIN, Jelajah Satelit, SDG 9