Here is something you don’t see every day, a satellite that turns into a drone and guides itself back to the ground, without the help of a parachute. I Build Stuff youtuber recently made this happen for the CanSat competition, and honestly, it is one of those “simple idea, tricky execution” projects that ended up working out surprisingly well.
Instead of using a parachute to land, like most CanSats, this tiny satellite pops out of a rocket and unfolds four propeller arms. From there, it uses a flight controller, typically found in racing drones, to stabilize and guide its descent. GPS-based autonomous landing was the original plan, but between hardware limitations and time constraints, they had to go with manual control using BetaFlight software.
Their project execution was not smooth, they ran into all kinds of last-minute issues, such as overheating electronics, soldering slip-ups, misaligned parts. At one point, their video transmitter started to cook inside the rocket before launch. But they stuck with it, made quick fixes and got it off the ground.
The landing was not perfect but the drone held up remarkably well, with just a minor bend in one arm, and all the onboard data was successfully recovered. It is a great outcome for their first full launch test and they pulled it off using 3D-printed parts, small motors. Along the way, they even tackled some real challenges that came up during development. Lets watch out how they are going to further develop this flying satellite in future.
