AggieSat 4

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US spacecraft nº:

Launch data:

Description:

• The AggieSat4 (AGS4) spacecraft, a 50 kilogram satellite, for the second mission of the LoneStar campaign. LoneStar Mission 2 consists of AGS4 and Bevo-2 from UT Austin.
• With Bevo-2 being a 3-U cubesat integrated into AggieSat4, the combined spacecraft are to be delivered to JSC for launch as soft stowage on the SpaceX Dragon CRS-7 or 8 and release from the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015 via JSC’s new Cyclops release mechanism.
• The objectives for this mission include relative-navigation solutions, three-axis stabilization, intersatellite communications, DRAGON GPS system characterization, and visual capability. In addition, after release from ISS, system checkout, and stabilization, AggieSat4 will release Bevo-2 to begin pointing, tracking, and relative navigation operations. It is to Demonstrate three-axis attitude determination and control (within 2 degrees), collect DRAGON carrier phase GPS data, capture video of Bevo-2 release (Aerospace Corporation 2MP), compute and crosslink relative navigation solutions, track Bevo-2.
• It will be launched onboard of the Dragon CRS-7 or 8 cargo craft towards the International Space Station (ISS), from where it will be deployed via the Space Station Integrated Kinetic Launcher for Orbital Payload Systems (SSIKLOPS).

Mission details:

• The AggieSat-4 satellite was ejected from the ISS on Jan 29, 2015 using the Kibo JRMS arm and the SSIKLOPS deployer. The 55 kg AggieSat-4, developed by students at Texas A&M University, will eject the 3U cubesat Bevo-2 (from students at U. Texas-Austin) and perform formation flying experiments with it.