The belated February 2025 recipient for the Great Scott Gadgets Free Stuff Program is Cles Facil, one of the oldest French student astronautics clubs, operating at INSA Lyon in France. They are currently working on a project to track rockets in flight using multi-lateration. They plan to use HackRF One on the rocket to transmit signals in the 868 MHz ISM band to multiple ground stations with RTL-SDR receivers and measure velocity using the Doppler effect. The students of Cles Facil will be participating in this year’s C’Space, a national event organized by CNES where students launch experimental rockets.

Cles Facil has finished the design of the rocket’s body and has begun the manufacturing process. Currently, they are designing PCBs in Altium and experimenting with GNU Radio to develop their communication systems. They have told us that HackRF One is the right device for their project because it offers the flexibility and performance they will need for transmitting signals in the 868 MHz ISM band, which is essential for their multi-lateration tracking system. Its ability to operate as a wideband SDR will allow them to experiment with various communication protocols and adapt it to their specific needs, such as Doppler shift measurement for velocity tracking. Additionally, its open source nature integrates well with their existing work in GNU Radio, making it an ideal fit for the rocket’s communication system.

This application for the Free Stuff program stood out to the Great Scott Gadgets team due to Cles Facil’s demonstration of knowledge and in-depth explanation of how HackRF One will benefit their project’s development. We are excited to see the finished result of their project and are wishing them luck at C’Space!