Tethered-Sat 0

Tethered-Sat 0 (T-Sat-0) was the Knights Satellite Club's first iteration of the T-Sat program, a rapidly prototyped testbed for hands-on CubeSat experience. Beginning in Fall 2023, it created a well-documented foundation for future teams to build upon.

T-Sat-0 used a tethered weather balloon with a burn wire release system. Onboard, a spring-loaded parachute deployment system activated once freefall was detected by the onboard accelerometer and barometer for recovery.

T-Sat-0 flew on January 20, 2025 from the UCF Arboretum. Flight 1 carried T-Sat-0 and MEDUSA (a Muon detection experiment from the UCF Astronomy Society) reaching 34m before wind pulled it into a tree. Flight 2 reached 119m (390ft) with a successful burn wire release. Key lessons included improving accelerometer-based freefall detection and relying on barometric altitude readings instead.