SIMPLESAT
From The Space Library
Organization | NASA-Office of Space Science (United States) |
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Mission type | Astronomy,Engineering |
Launch date | August 10, 2001 |
Launch vehicle | STS-105 |
Carrier rocket | Space Shuttle |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral, United States |
COSPAR ID | 2001-035B |
Mass | 52.0kg |
Simplesat has a 0.3-meter optical telescope and a GPS attitude control system. It is intended to test methods for building cheap astronomical satellites and controlling them from a cheap ground station. The 52-kg, 0.48-meter diameter, 0.66-meter high octagonal cylinder Simplesat was developed by NASA-Goddard. Two months after the launch, there has been no contact with the Simplesat astronomy test satellite and it now seems probable that the satellite failed.