HabSat is a complete electronics platform for high-altitude ballooning. It is designed to make near-space exploration accessible to students, educators, makers, hobbyists, or anyone who has ever wanted to launch their own spacecraft.

The HabSat Flight Module is a compact 10 x 10 x 7 cm payload weighing less than 300 g. It is designed to be carried by a weather balloon over 30 km (100,000 ft) above the Earth. This is high enough to see some slight curvature of the horizon, the blackness of space, and a view normally only associated with spaceflight.

While it's up there, the HabSat records its journey, measures the environment around it, transmits live telemetry to the ground, and sends back images while it is still flying.

After approximately 2-3 hours, the balloon bursts in the stratosphere and the HabSat descends safely back to Earth via parachute to fly another day. You'll use our ground station software to track and chase the HabSat in real-time so you'll always know where it is.

Your Near-Space Mission

A HabSat mission begins with planning on the ground. This includes selecting a launch location and time, and predicting where it will land using the software we provide.

During the flight, you will receive:

• GPS position and altitude
• Diagnostic values such as internal temperature, internal relative humidity, battery voltage, and status of peripherals (SD card, camera, etc.)
  
• 3-axis acceleration and motion
• Barometric pressure down to 300hPA
• Image thumbnails
• Predicted flight path and landing location
  

The HabSat also records all of the above telemetry, as well as additional high-resolution images, to an onboard SD card for recovery after landing. However, even if the payload is lost (good mission planning will make this unlikely), you will still have the telemetry and images you received wirelessly during the flight.

Complete Flight System

No coding, electronics, radio experience, or complex setup is required.

A complete HabSat flight system consists of four main components, all of which you can buy from Midnight Make. For maximum flexibility, the balloon and parachute are optional purchases if you already have your own.

• HabSat Near-Space Flight Module (this product)
• HabSat Ground Station (coming soon)
• 3ft High-Altitude Parachute (optional)
• Kaymont 600g High-Altitude Balloon (optional)

The HabSat has been flight-tested with the recommended 600g Kaymont balloons and 3ft parachutes that we sell, and has been specifically designed with those parts in mind, but you can use your own compatible balloon or parachute if you prefer.

The HabSat Ground Station (coming soon) connects to a laptop and communicates with the HabSat Flight Module over long-range radio. No separate radio equipment is required.

Here are some basic specifications:

• Dimensions: 10W x 11.7L x 5.7H cm (without antenna)
• Weight: approximately 287 g
• Telemetry interval: 5 seconds
• Image interval: Approximately 1-2 minutes
• Max demonstrated altitude: 33 km (108,000 ft)
• Reusable: Yes
• Automatic onboard image and data storage: Yes
• Ground station required: Yes (coming soon)

HabSat Ops

This is our desktop mission-control software used to monitor the HabSat's flight. It displays the HabSat's position, predicts where it will land, displays streaming telemetry, and contains an image gallery of received image thumbnails. All of the received data is also automatically saved to disk so you won't lose it after the mission.

High-altitude balloons can travel a long way before landing! Some of our missions have flown 100 km away. An important feature of HabSat Ops is the integrated flight prediction system that allows you to predict flight paths up to 1 week in advance, and also predict in real-time during a flight where your balloon is likely to land. This is done by using real-time atmospheric wind forecasts combined with our custom physics model. This makes flight planning, tracking, and recovery part of the mission experience.

Telemetry data includes:

• Up time and boot count
• Battery voltage
• Internal temperature
• GPS position and altitude
• GPS health statistics
• Internal electronics temperature
• Relative humidity
• Barometric pressure
• 3-axis linear acceleration
• Peripheral (radio, camera, SD card, etc.) health status
• Other telemetry and health statistics

In addition to telemetry, the HabSat Flight Module also transmits image thumbnails (160 x 120) every 1-2 minutes.

HabSat Ops can also be used to transmit commands to the HabSat to do the following:

• Adjust the camera capture interval
• Start or stop the camera to manage power usage
• Start or stop an audible alarm to help with locating nearby after landing
• Remote reboot in case of a problem
• Other diagnostic commands

Together, the HabSat Flight Module, HabSat Ground Station, and HabSat Ops software provide an integrated system from launch planning to flight to recovery.

For Classrooms, Clubs, and Makers

The HabSat is being developed for:

• High schools and universities
• STEM and engineering programs
• Robotics and aerospace clubs
• Makerspaces
• Amateur radio and ballooning groups
• Independent experimenters

Whether your goal is a student launch, or a deeper engineering curriculum built around mission planning, the HabSat provides a common platform for the entire project.