Launching Q4 2027
BioSat
A 3U CubeSat built by students at Orbit NTNU — first coaxing a plant to grow in orbit, then turning a radio on the sky to survey the amateur band.
If a seed can wake in orbit, life is far more portable than we ever assumed.
Four phases,
one life cycle.
- 01
Commissioning
After launch, deploy the solar panels, establish contact and bring the satellite to a stable, power-positive state.
- 02
Plant phase
Germinate Arabidopsis thaliana inside the BioBox and grow it in orbit, photographed 14–16 times a day. The phase ends when the plant dies, or after four weeks.
- 03
SDR phase
The software-defined radio surveys the amateur radio band, recording noise and interference — while the S-band radio handles communication with the ground.
- 04
De-commissioning
De-orbit and re-entry, closing the mission.
The experiment
BioSat's headline payload is biological. Seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana are germinated and grown inside a sealed chamber in orbit, photographed 14–16 times a day, until the plant dies or four weeks pass.
The BioBox
A sealed, cylindrical aluminium container split in two: an electronics module — sensors, camera and PCB — and a payload module, where the seed sits in a petri dish.
Germinating in orbit
A hydroponic system — a bladder water tank, a peristaltic pump and fine tubing — controls exactly how much the seeds are hydrated, so growth can begin in space. Ground tests suggest the seeds shrug off freezing to about −8 °C, and that far-red light can hold germination back until the satellite is ready.
Carried across generations
BioSat has passed through the hands of many project managers — each inheriting a growing mission and handing it on. The team spans mechanical, electrical and software, all pointed at a single launch window.
Freider Fløan
Fall 2022 — Spring 2024
Maja Iuel
Spring 2024 — Spring 2026
CurrentFilip Österberg
Spring 2026 — Present
Small platform,
serious hardware.
The On-Board computer
At the centre of BioSat sits the on-board computer — the core that talks to every other subsystem. It's a complex system designed end to end by Orbit NTNU, with a microcontroller doing the heavy processing that keeps the mission running.
On-board computer
The OBC coordinates every subsystem — power, radios, sensors and the payload — and is designed in-house, board and software alike.
In-house avionics
At its heart a microcontroller handles the main processing. Building it in-house means the team understands, and can fix, every layer of the stack.
The second payload
When the plant phase ends, BioSat isn't finished. A software-defined radio wakes and surveys the amateur radio band — recording noise and interference to help optimise the link between satellites and the ground.
The SDR
The second payload: a software-defined radio with a NanoAvionics UHF antenna and an in-house RF front-end, talking to the on-board computer over USB-C.
Talking home on S-band
Real communication runs on a separate SatLab SRS-3 S-band radio, downlinking to Orbit NTNU's own ground station at NTNU Gløshaugen in Trondheim.
Concept & design
The mission takes shape: a 3U CubeSat that grows a plant in orbit, with a software-defined radio as a second payload.