PANSAT

USA

Petite Amateur Navy Satellite.
Also called: S97-D, PO-34 and Oscar 34

Launch data:

Designation	25520 / 98064B
Launch date	29 Oct 1998 - 19:19 UT Deployed on 30 Oct 1998 - 18:45 UT
Launch site	KSC, LC-39B
Launch vehicle	Shuttle STS-95
Mission	Test sat, Communications
Earth orbit:
Perigee/Apogee	550 km
Inclination	28.5°
Period	95.6 min

Small, spread-spectrum communication satellite developed by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) as an educational project for officer students.

Through use by the amateur radio community PANSAT will supply a means to demonstrate spread-spectrum communications. In addition, PANSAT provides many potential applications for low-cost communications. The low probability-of-intercept would be an important feature for the military in downed-pilot-rescues. The pilot could obtain his/her location through a GPS system and uplink the information to the orbiting satellite at low risk. Examples of civilian uses include emergency rescue and communication to remote areas.

Specifications:

Prime contractor
Platform
Mass at launch	75 kg
Mass in orbit
Dimension
Solar array
Stabilization	tumbling spacecraft
DC power
Design lifetime	2 years

Upload: 435.250 - 437.750 MHz
Download: 435.250 - 437.750 MHz

The spacecraft will supply direct-sequence, spread-spectrum modulation with an operating center frequency of 436.5 MHz, a bit rate of 9600 bits per second and 4 MB of message storage.

Mission details:

The US Navy PANSAT student satellite was deployed on Oct 30, 1998 into a 550 x 561 x 28.5 deg orbit.

Ref: #7(JR379), #15 - update: 22.07.04