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DARPA Picosat (OPAL-#1&2)

A tethered set of picosatellites built by the aerospace corp and funded by ARPA and UCLA weighting just 0.5kg each and measuring 100x750x250mm each, launched from the OPAL microsatellite, which was launched on the 26th January 2000 on an OSPSLV. They were deployed on the 6th February 2000, and communications were established 24 hours later. Gold strands in the 30m tether were instrumental in radar tracking the pair. The spacecraft performed basic tests on Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) RF switches, and this experiment was built at Rockwell. The spacecraft primary batteries (lithium thionyl chloride) ran out by the 10th February 2000.
More...
[Picosats at Aerospace corp]
References

[1] Picosatellites launched aboard converted minuteman II booster, Aerospace corp press release, 7 Feb 2000,  (http://www.aero.org/news/current/picosat-00.html)
[2] Picosatellites complete missions, Aerospace corp press release, 14 Feb 2000, (http://www.aero.org/news/current/pico-complete.html)
Artist impression  courtesy of Aerospace corp.

 

ARTEMIS Picosat (OPAL-#3&4, Thelma and Louise)

A picosatellite named after the Greek Godess of the moon, weighting just 0.5kg and built in a 5400 hour effort over a period of 10 months by an exclusively female team of 7 Santa Clara University students. The satellite is to be launched from the OPAL microsatellite, which was launched on the 26th January 2000 on an OSPSLV. The satellite operates on amateur satellite frequencies. The spacecraft employs an 68HC11 microcontroller, AA battery cells and GaAs solar cells. It is designed for 1 week of operations and will not be attitude stabilised. It carries a Very Low Frequency receiver. The spacecraft were deployed on the 11th February 2000, and are reported not to be operational.
[Artemis web site][Article in EE times]

 

MASAT Picosat (OPAL-#5, JAK)

Miniature Amateur Satellite. A picosatellite weighting just 0.5kg to be launched from the OPAL microsatellite, which was launched on the 26th January 2000 on an OSPSLV. The spacecraft was deployed with Stensat on the 12th February 2000, and are reported not to be operational.

 

STENSAT (OPAL-#6]

A GSFC built amateur radio picosatellite weighting just 0.25kg, launched from the OPAL microsatellite, which was launched on the 26th January 2000 on an OSPSLV. The spacecraft was deployed with MASAT on the 12th February 2000, and are reported not to be operational. More...
[Stensat]

 

ASUSAT-1

ASUSAT-1 is a 5kg nano-satellite being designed and built at Arizona State University, launched  together with JAWSAT on the 26th January 2000 on an OSPSLV. It will carry GPS, a camera, and a radio amateur FM repeater which will only operate when requested on the uplink. Its mission has changed over time inposed by different launch opportunities. The spacecraft has a 2W downlink at 436.7MHz.
The batteries failed to charge and the satellite therefore operated for approximately 15 hours during which telemetry was received, and is no longer operational.
More...[ASUSAT at Arizona State University][ASUSAT homepage]

 

SNAP-1 2000-033C (26385)

SNAP-1 is a 6.5kg nanosatellite developed by SSTL and the Surrey Space Centre in the UK. The spacecraft was launched as a piggyback at 1137UTC on the 28th June 2000 on a COSMOS-3M launcher from Plesetsk, together with the Tsinghua-1 microsatellite and the NADEZHDA 06 primary payload. It was placed into a 684x707km orbit inclined at 98.13 degrees. It carries a remote inspection payload, and an intersatellite link to communicate with Tshinghua-1. It carries a Butane propulsion system with a 3m/s capability. The spacecraft is reported to be operational. More...
[SNAP at SSTL here and here][SNAP machine vision system][Pictures A B C]
References
[1] Surrey Nanosatellite technology, SSTL, 2000 (http://www.sstl.co.uk/missions/mn_snap_extra.html)
[2] Surrey's Nanosatellite Technology. - SSTL, 2000. (http://www.sstl.co.uk/services%5Cmn_nanosatellites.html).

[3] Cosmos-3M set to launch three satellites from Russia / S. Clark 2000. - Spaceflight Now, 2000-06-27. (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0006/27cosmos3m/).

[4] Kosmos-3M launches three small satellites / P. Klanowski. - Sat-ND, 2000-06-29. (http://sat-nd.com/news/news.asp?d=20000629&n=00).

[5] SSTL gets ready to launch two new satellites / [SSTL]. - Florida Today. - 2000-06-28. (http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000a/062800b.htm).

[6] Russian Cosmos-3M launches 3 satellites / [Interfax]. - Florida Today. - 2000-06-28. (http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000a/062800e.htm).

[7] Russia launches three satellites / [AP]. - Florida Today. - 2000-06-28. (http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000a/062800f.htm).

[8] Cosmos-3M rocket launches with three satellites , S. Clark. - Spaceflight Now, 2000-06-29. (http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0006/27cosmos3m/).

[9] British and Chinese satellites head for space rendezvous,S.Clark,  Spaceflight Now 2001-01-15 (http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0101/15snap1/).

[10] SNAP-1: World's first 3-axis stabilised nanosatellite, 16 Jan 2001, (http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanosat-01a.html)
Photos courtesy of SSTL

 

MUNIN 2000-0 (26621)

A Swedish 6kg satellite (7.5kg including separation system) to measure the electron and ion distribution in the auroral ovals was launched on the 21st November 2000 on a DELTA-2 from Vandenberg Air Force Base into a 698x1800km orbit. The satellite carries a spectrometer (DINA, Detector of Ions and Neutral Atoms), is cubic in shape and measures 200x200x250mm. The satellite was designed by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) and the Dept. of Space Physics of Umeå University (RYP). Munin was launched from VAFB, together with EO-1, and SAC-C. The satellite downlink is at 400.55MHz.

More...[munin at IRF]