Satellite SDR Reception
Fifth-year annual project (class 5SIJ), mentored by Geoffrey Lavigne: build a full chain to receive, track, demodulate and decode satellite signals, then evaluate the security posture of the link itself. The goal is not just to use existing tools end to end but to reimplement at least one decoding stage from scratch, to actually understand the protocol rather than trust a black box.
Scope
- Reception: antenna and SDR hardware (RTL-SDR, HackRF) for capturing satellite downlinks.
- Orbit tracking: pass prediction and Doppler shift correction so the receiver stays locked on a moving satellite.
- Demodulation and decoding: targeting the CCSDS telemetry standard and LRPT satellite imagery, with at least one decoding stage reimplemented rather than relying entirely on existing tooling.
- Security analysis: comparing the exposure of the link when transmitted in the clear versus protected, to draw conclusions on satellite communication security.
Status
Currently in the requirements/design phase: the subject proposal, state of the art and project specification have been validated. The actual reception and decoding chain is the next phase of work - this page will be updated as it progresses.