Vesselsat 2

VesselSat 2

Luxembourg

Spacecraft nº:

Luxembourg spacecraft nº: 21

Also called: Orbcomm FM43

Designation	38047 / 12001B
Launch date	09 Jan 2012 - 03:17 UT
Launch site	Taiyuan, LC-9
Launch vehicle	CZ-4B (Y26)
Mission	Commercial: Technology, Comms
LAO Sun-synchronous Earth orbit on Jan 9.26:
Perigee / Apogee	488 x 502 km
Eccentricity	1,02E-03
Inclination	97.49 deg
Period	97.52 min

Launched together with ZY 3A

Reentered date:	27 Oct 2016 (.1)
Lifetime:

VesselSat is a constellation of three microsatellites to provide spacecraft-based Automatic Identification System (AIS) sensors in low-Earth orbit as a means of tracking maritime assets
A delevopment version of the Luxspace AIS-receivers has been tested before on the Rubin-9.1 payload.
Designed to relay positions of ships around the world. Constructed by LuxSpace of Luxembourg, the spacecraft's services will supplement Orbcomm's next-generation communications satellites due to begin launching this year.

On Jan 9, 2012 the zi yuan san hao (ZY-3) mapping satellite was launched, together with the small 28 kg VesselSat 2, built by LuxSpace for Orbcomm's AIS (maritime vessel tracking) system. On Jan 13 Vesselsat-2 was in a 489 x 500 km orbit.

Ref.: #3(SD528), #7(JR653), #14, #206, #226, #228 - update: 28.01.17