[amsat-bb] First CUBESAT's in orbit?

[Bob Bruninga <bruninga@xxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 3 Dec 2002 azrowe@juno.com wrote:

> At 4:05 p.m., Endeavour's crew released two miniature satellites as part
> of an experiment referred to as MEPSI. Funded by the Defense Advanced
> Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the two small satellites, which are
> tethered together, were released from Endeavour's payload bay to fly free
> for three days as a technology demonstration of the launcher assembly and
> use of micro- and nano-technologies in space systems.

These are similar to the dozens of CUBESAT's under develpment by numerous
schools around the country in the CUBESAT Program sponsored by Standford
University.  Cubesat's are 4" cube satellites that anyone can get into
space by paying the $50,000 fixed price cost.  NOTE, however, that thse
first two launched from the shuttle are NOT part of the Stanford CUBESAT
program, but were a DOD spinn off of the same "size"  launcher for DOD
"cubesats" which they call nanosats...

I believe these DOD "cubesats" were actually 4"x4"x5" and so only two
instead of 3 would fit the launcher.  We hope to build a PSK-31 type 10m
linear uplink and 2m FM downlink cubesat for launch next year if we are
lucky... or another PCsat...  so many launch opportunities... so little
time...

de WB4APR, Bob


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