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 MUSAT-1,(MO30)
1996-050A. , 24291- MuSat - 1 "Victor" was launched August 29th. 1996, together with Magion-5 and
Prognoz M-2 by a Molniya rocket. The satellite separated from launch vehicle at 05:31 UTC,
into a 239x1149 km, 62.8 deg inclination orbit, becoming the first argentine-made
satellite. It is reported to be functional. It weights 32 kg in-orbit (34.5 kg mounted
onto the LV), and has dimensions 340x340x450mm."Victor " is an experimental
vehicle, intended to evaluate in-orbit behaviour of low-cost space technologies. It
carries two video cameras, oriented for earth-imaging, as well as transceivers in both UHF
and S bands. Electrical power is provided by four 88-Si cells solar panels, with an
end-of-life electrical power of 8W. Its position is determined by means of a 3-axis,
flux-gate magnetometer, as well as both solar and horizon sensors, while its attitude is
3-axes controlled by magnetic coils and reaction wheels, with an expected pointing
precision of 0.5 deg (attitude control system is not flight-tested, yet). MuSat - 1
"Victor" was developed and built by a 25-person team, at the instituto
universitario aeronautico, under the Sponsorship of the government of the province of
Cordoba, in a 3.5 year, US$1.2M effort. The beacon can be heard every 90 seconds on 137.95
MHz as a brief burst of CW ("Hi hi de MUSAT"). It finally decayed on the 12th
November 1999.
- MAGION-5,
1996-050B.
- Magion-5 is the fifth sub-satellite in the Magion series of microsatellites. The S2-A
Magion-5 sub-satellite was launched from the Interbol-Avroralniy-Zond, Prognoz scientific
class Russian satellite, Interbol-2, on a Molniya rocket, into an elliptical 19,204x774km
orbit inclined at 63 degrees. It was built in the Czech Republic. The microsatellite
weighs 58kg and was targeted to study the auroral regions. It was believed lost due to a
solar panel failure until it was revived on the 14th May 1998
- [Picture][Magion-5 at IKI Russia
(Russian
language pages also available)][Maggion-5 at NASA
Goddard]
Picture courtesy of IKI.
- PAMS-STU,
1996-032D
- The Passive Aerodynamically Stabilised Magnetically Damped Satellite (PAMS), Satellite
Test Unit (STU) was deployed from STS-77 on the 22 May 1996, and re-entered on the 20th
October 1996. In the course of experiments, the shuttle rendezvoused three times with the
Satellite in order to measure the satellite attitude as it is affected by the Earth's
atmosphere. Some trouble was reported in the attitude measurements from the shuttle,
although observations showed that the satellite was properly aerodynamically stabilised.
More...
[PAMS-STU in STS77 press kit][PAMS homepage at NASA GSFC][Flight results at NASA GSFC][CNN
article with deployment movie]
- UNAMSAT-2,
1996-052B
- The University of Mexico (UNAM) UNAMSAT-2 microsatellite was launched on the 5th
September as a secondary payload on Cosmos-3M rocket with Cosmos-2334 from Plesetsk, into
a 1010x988km circular orbit inclined at 82.9 degrees, with the Parus navigation satellite
being the primary payload. The satellite replaces UNAMSAT-1
which in early 1995 failed to reach orbit due to a launcher failure. UNSAMSAT is a 17 kg
spacecraft built in Mexico at UNAM, a Mexican University. It operates in the amateur
service and carries 0.2-0.3W UHF downlinks at 437.206 and 437.138MHz, and uplinks at
145.815, 145.835, 145.855 and 145.875MHz with 1200bps AFSK modulation using the PACSAT
data protocol as used by Oscar 16 and 19. The satellite bus is the AMSAT Microsat 25cm
cube. The primary payload is a 40.997MHz pulse radar associated with a wide band receiver
to study micro-meteorids and the ionised trails left by these as they enter the atmosphere.
It also carries a communications data relay for environmental sensors in remote locations.
In Aug 97 it is reported to have started experiencing trouble with the power system for
the downlink.
-
-
 JAS-2, (Fuji 3, FO-29),1996-046B
- JAS-2 is a radio amateur satellite based
on FO-20, JAS-1b, and was launched alongside ADEOS-1 at 01:54 UT on Saturday, August 17 on
an H-II into a 797x1317km sun-synchronous orbit inclined at 98.6degrees from Tanegashima
Space Center. It carries a digitalker in order to transmit announcements and bulletins on
the satellite condition, a mode JD transponder and a CW telemetry beacon. It also carries
a full duplex mode JA linear transponder for SSB and CW, and employs a 1200bps BPSK and
CPFSK 9600bps digital packet UHF downlink (435.910MHz). The 50 kg satellite is
multi-facetted, and was developed by the Japan Amateur Radio League, with construction by
Nippon Electric Co. (NEC). In 1998 it was reported that the satellite suffered a series of
2-bit memory error upsets which made commanding difficult.
Pictures:[launch ready][in cleanroom][suspended][on the launcher #1][on the launcher #2]
Pictures courtesy of JARL.
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