CanSat System -- EirSpace
Custom avionics and telemetry payload for real-time flight monitoring, built for EirSpace student rocketry team.
Introduction
EirSpace is a student rocketry team focused on building reliable, flight-ready systems and turning ambitious ideas into real launches. This July 2026, we are competing in MachX, where we will test our design, engineering, and teamwork in a demanding flight environment, with aims to progress toward EuRoC, the European Rocketry Challenge. At the heart of our rocket payload is a custom-built CanSat: a compact sensing and telemetry system designed to monitor the mission in real time. Built around our own avionics board, it measures atmospheric pressure, internal temperature, and GPS position, then transmits that data live to the ground station throughout flight.
Highlights
- Designed a custom avionics PCB around the Raspberry Pi Pico 2W, integrating a NEO-6M GPS module, BMP280 barometric pressure and temperature sensor, and RYLR998 LoRa transceiver for long-range telemetry.
- Implemented battery management and power regulation circuitry with configurable charging current (0.5A/1.5A), supporting reliable operation throughout the flight envelope.
- Developed real-time telemetry streaming to a ground station, enabling live tracking of altitude, GPS coordinates, and system health during flight.
- The CanSat transforms each launch into a data-driven mission, providing live insight into rocket performance and enabling validation of flight dynamics for future design iterations.