DeMI

Launch data: Designation  45916 / 1998-067RP Launch date  14 Feb 2020 Launch site  MARS, LA-0A Launch vehicle  Antares-230+ Mission  Technology Launch platform  ISS Kibo, LEO Deployment date  13 Jul 2020 - 13:40:25 UTC Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  415 x 418 km Inclination  51.6° Period   min

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• DeMi (Deformable Mirror) is a nanosatellite project to test a Deformable Mirror demonstration mission led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Space Telecommunications, Astronomy and Radiation (STAR) Laboratory and funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). MIT is providing the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) deformable mirror (DM) instrument for the mission. Aurora Flight Sciences is managing the project and systems integration.
• The objective of the DeMi mission is to fly a 6U CubeSat with a wavefront sensor to demonstrate and characterize the operation of a MEMS DM in low Earth orbit (LEO). Deformable mirrors are used to correct both static and dynamic optical aberrations in optical systems, with applications such as improving contrast in astronomical imaging, or in free-space optical communications, for coupling laser light into a single-mode fiber for optical preamplification. The DeMi mission aims to provide on-orbit performance qualification of MEMS deformable mirrors for closed-loop wavefront sensing. DeMi plans to include an internal laser and wavefront sensor for mirror characterization as well as a small telescope to demonstrate closed-loop wavefront control on a star.

Mission details:

• On Jul 13, 2020 the Kibo RMS removed the Nanoracks NRCSD-18 deployer from the Kibo airlock. NRCSD-18 ejected the DemMi cubesat at 13:40:25 UTC. DeMi (the Deformable Mirror experiment) is a 6U cubesat for DARPA and Aurora Flight Sciences.

External links:

• Satellite tracking: Real time satellite tracking