ÑuSat

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ÑuSat
File:Nusat Satellite Series.jpg
Mission type Commercial Earth Observation
Operator Satellogic S.A.
Website www.satellogic.com
Mission duration Planned: 3 years
Spacecraft properties
Bus Small Satellite Standard
Manufacturer Satellogic
Launch mass 82 lb (37 kg)
Start of mission
Launch date 30 May 2016, 00:13 (1st, 2nd)
15 June 2017 (3rd)
2 February 2018 (4th, 5th)
15 January 2020 (7th, 8th)
Rocket Long March 4B, Long March 2D
Launch site Taiyuan, Jiuquan

ÑuSat satellite series (Spanish: ÑuSat), is a series of Argentinean commercial Earth observation satellites. They form the Aleph-1 constellation, which is designed, built and operated by Satellogic.

Overview

Satellites design

The satellites in the constellation are identical 51 cm × 57 cm × 82 cm spacecraft of 85 lb (38.5 kg) mass. The satellites are equipped with an imaging system operating in visible light and infrared. The constellation will allow for commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 3.3 ft (1 m). The satellite were developed based on the experience gained on the BugSat 1 (Tita) prototype satellite.

BugSat 1

The BugSat 1 (nickname Tita, COSPAR 2014-033E) was a technology demonstration mission for the NuSat-satellites. It was launched 19.06.2014 by a Russian Dnepr rocket. It was a microsat weighing 22 kg with outer dimensions of 275 × 500 × 500 mm. It also carried amateur radio capabilities.

Missions

The Aleph-1 constellation will consist of up to 25 satellites.

The first two satellites will be launched as piggy-back payloads on a Chinese CZ-4B rocket in May 2016 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center into a 500 km sun synchronous orbit with an inclination of 97.5°. Four more were planned to follow later in 2016.

The third satellite was launched as a piggy-back payload on CZ-4B rocket in June 2017.

The fourth and fifth satellites were launched as piggy-backs on a CZ-2D rocket in February 2018.

Satellites number seven and eight were launched as piggy-backs on a CZ-2D rocket in January 2020.

Ground communications

An U/V transponder with 2 W of output power for 8 GHz downlink and 2 GHz uplink will be operating on 100 kHz bandwidth.

LabOSat / MeMOSat payloads

MeMOSat, developed by the LabOSat Group, designed and built by a group of scientists at the National Atomic Energy Commission (Spanish: Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA)), the National Institute of Industrial Technology (Spanish: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial (INTI)), the National University of San Martin (Spanish: Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM)) and National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET).

This memory was specially designed to operate in harsh environments and adverse conditions, such as the strong radiation it must withstand in space. Its main objective is to test electronic components that will be commercialized in the future.

To do this, the memory is made up of two metallic films with an oxide between about 20 nm thick, with electrical resistance properties, that can send information from the satellites, allowing to study their behavior in these hostile environments.

AMSAT payload

Additionally, ÑuSat-1 carries a U/V linear transponder called LUSEX provided by AMSAT Argentina (AMSAT-LU) to offer services to the HAM community.

List of satellites

Although the satellites are officially named "ÑuSat", each satellite has a nickname, a tradition from Satellogic that dates back since its very first satellite Capitan Beto.

Name [1] Nickname COSPAR In homage to Launch date Launch vehicle Outcome Notes
ÑuSat 1 (Aleph-1 1,
Lusat-OSCAR 87, LO 87)		 Fresco 2016-033B Queso blanco (Alongside Batata, they make the traditional Argentinian dessert "Fresco y Batata") May 30, 2016 CZ-4B Success First commercial small satellite from Argentina
ÑuSat 2 (Aleph-1 2) Batata 2016-033C Dulce de batata (Alongside Fresco, they make the traditional Argentinian dessert "Fresco y Batata") May 30, 2016 CZ-4B Success First commercial small satellite from Argentina
ÑuSat 3 (Aleph-1 3) Milanesat 2017-034C Milanesa June 15, 2017 CZ-4B Success Nickname proposed by a Reddit user[2]
ÑuSat 4 (Aleph-1 4) Ada[3] 2018-015D Ada Lovelace[4] February 2, 2018[5][6] CZ-2D Success[7]
ÑuSat 5 (Aleph-1 5) Maryam[3] 2018-015K Maryam Mirzakhani[4] February 2, 2018[5][6] CZ-2D Success[7]
ÑuSat 6 (Aleph-1 6) Hypatia[8] Hypatia 2020 (planned)
ÑuSat 7 (Aleph-1 7) Sophie[9] 2020-003B Sophie Germain[9] 15 January 2020[10] CZ-2D Success[10]
ÑuSat 8 (Aleph-1 8) Marie[9] 2020-003C Marie Curie[9] 15 January 2020[10] CZ-2D Success[10]

Gallery

  • ÑuSat Satellites Commemorative Launching Postcards.jpg

    Legally valid stamps printed in commemoration of ÑuSat Satellites Launching

  • Emiliano Kargieman & Mauricio Macri.jpg

    Mauricio Macri alongside Satellogic directives after the launch of Fresco and Batata

  • ÑuSat 4 & 5 mission patch.jpg

    Mission patch of the ÑuSat 4 & 5 satellites

  • BBAA-Argentina (Satellogic).jpg

    Buenos Aires as seen from one of the ÑuSat satellites

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/nusat-1.htm
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://twitter.com/earlkman/status/893528111886721024
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://twitter.com/fedejack/status/893539830487035906
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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