AubieSat 1

Spacecraft n°:

US spacecraft n°:

Launch data: Designation  37854 / 11061E Launch date  28 Oct 2011 - 09:48 UT Launch site  Va, SLC-2W Launch vehicle  Delta-7920-10C Mission  Technology Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  462.5 x 818.0 km Eccentricity   Inclination  101.7 deg Period  97.4 min

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• AubieSat 1 is a 1U CubeSat built by students of the Auburn University. The science mission is to measure gamma rays produced by high-altitude thunderstorms. The data collected by the satellite will be transmitted to the ground station in the Physics Department for analysis.

Mission details:

• Launch from Space Launch Complex 2-West at Vandenberg was at 0948 UTC; Stage 2 reached a 195 x 853 km x 98.7 deg orbit at 0958 UTC. At 1040 UTC a second burn circulazed the orbit at 816 x 819 km and the NPP satellite separated at 1046 UTC.
• The Delta 7920 launch vehicle carried six Cubesats in deployers attached to its final stage. The first P-POD deployer carried three 1U Cubesats, each 1 kg, 0.1m in size: AubieSat-1 from Auburn University, Alabama; M-Cubed (the Michigan Multipurpose Mission) from the University of Michigan; and E1PU2 (Explorer-1 Prime, Unit 2) from Montana State University, which carries one of Van Allen's Geiger tubes.
• Stage 2's third burn at 1120 UTC lowered the orbit and increased inclination, to 458 x 816 km x 101.7 deg (a higher perigee than originally planned). At 1126 UTC the three 1U Cubesats were ejected,