One Year Satellite Operations of the E-band Technology Demonstration CubeSat EIVE

The Exploratory In-Orbit Verification of an E-band Link (EIVE) CubeSat is the latest satellite of the University of Stuttgart launched in June 2023. The CubeSat EIVE was developed and built together with partners in industry and research since 2019 and is operated by PhD, graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Stuttgart’s Institute of Space Systems (IRS). The main mission objective is the technology demonstration of a high-speed space-to-ground communication link in the E-band. EIVE may later be repurposed as an educational satellite for students.
The satellite is operated from the Mission Control Center (MCC) at the University of Stuttgart using its newly developed Multi-Mission Operations System (MMOS) software tool for command and control. EIVE operations are conducted with the university’s ground station infrastructure including its custom-built E-band antenna during payload operations. An operations team, consisting of students of different educational levels, was trained to support the project’s core team during initial critical operations.
This paper discusses the EIVE operations over the course of the first year. Operational experiences and developments as well as first payload results are shared and discussed.