Tsinghua 1

China (PR)

Spacecraft nº:

China satellite nº: 66

Also spelled Qinhua or Tzinghua

Launch data:

Designation	26385 / 00033B
Launch date	28 Jun 2000 - 10:37:42 UT
Launch site	Pl, LC132/1
Launch vehicle	Cosmos-3M (11K65M)
Mission
Earth orbit on Jun 28, 2000 (.64):
Perigee / Apogee	683 x 705 km
Eccentricity	0.002
Inclination	98.13 deg
Period	98.65 min

Launched together with "Nadezhda 6" and "Snap 1"

Specifications:

Prime contractor	SSTL
Platform
Operator	Tsinghua University in Beijin
Mass at launch	50 kg
Mass in orbit
Basic shape	Box
Dimension	0.36 x 0.36 x 0.69 m
Solar array
Stabilization
DC power
Design lifetime

Tsinghua-1 and SNAP-1 spacecraft in a launch site clean room. Photo: SSTL

Description:

Will experiment rendez-vous with Snap 1
It carries multispectral Earth imaging cameras (40 m and 1 km resolution), a demonstrator for Disaster Monitoring Constellation (developed by SSTL) and experimental communications payloads.

Mission details:

Liftoff occurred on schedule at 1037 GMT (6:37 a.m. EDT) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in far northern Russia. The spacecraft were later deployed into a 400-mile high (650 km) sun-synchronous orbit
The other two satellite passengers carried by the Cosmos rocket, SNAP-1 and Tsinghua-1, have different purposes but should remain close to each other even after arriving in space. Both were built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. of the United Kingdom.
The Tsinghua-1 satellite was built by SSTL for Beijing's Tsinghua University. This microsatellite is a demonstrator for a planned constellation of five similar spacecraft that would provide worldwide imaging of disaster areas. Tsinghua-1 is also slated to conduct communications research in low-Earth orbit.
SNAP-1 will link up with Tsinghua-1 to test its new propulsion and imaging systems.
Ground controllers at TsingHua University reported they received telemetry from Tsinghua-1 about seven hours after launch and all looked normal.

Ref: #7, #12, #206 - update: 26.12.12