i-INSPIRE 2 (QB50-AU03)

Launch data: Designation  42731 / 98067ML Launch date  18 Apr 2017 Launch site  CC, SLC-41 Launch vehicle  Atlas V-401 Mission  Space science, thermospheric research Launch platform  ISS Kibo, LEO Deployment date  26 May 2017 - 04:00 UT Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  400 x 404 km Inclination   51.6° Period  92.4 min

Description:

• I-INSPIRE II is an Australian 2U-CubeSat designed by University of Sydney participating in the QB50 project. The QB50 project, which will demonstrate the possibility of launching a network of 50 CubeSats built by Universities Teams all over the world as a primary payload on a low-cost launch vehicle to perform first-class science in the largely unexplored lower thermosphere. As a payload for QB50, the satellite carries a multineedle Langmuir probe (mNLP) sampling the electron density of the space around it. At the same time it will carry three scientific instruments to fulfill the observation in orbit. It carrries a small COTS low resolution imager, the in-house developed NanoSpec Photonic spectrograph and a Geiger radiation counter.