| Mission type | Remote Sensing Technology |
|---|---|
| Operator | STUDSAT Consortium |
| COSPAR ID | 2010-035B[1] |
| SATCATno. | 36796 |
| Mission duration | 6 months (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
| Manufacturer | Consortium of 7 Engineering Colleges from Bangalore (4) and Hyderabad (3) |
| Launch mass | 0.950 kg (2.09 lb) |
| Dimensions | 10 cm x 10 cm x 13.5 cm |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 12 July 2010, 03:52:00UTC[2] |
| Rocket | Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) |
| Launch site | Satish Dhawan,FLP |
| Contractor | ISRO |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | 2011 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit[3] |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 602.5 km |
| Apogee altitude | 620.4 km |
| Inclination | 98.18° |
| Period | 96.8 minutes |
STUDSAT (STUDent SATellite),[1] is aCubeSat satellite designed by students. This project was conceptualised and project managed by undergraduate students acrossIndia.[4] STUDSAT is apicosatellite successfully launched on 12 July 2010 fromSatish Dhawan Space Centre into aSun-synchronous orbit. The mission's objective was for students to have a hands-on experience with the design, fabrication and realisation of a space mission at a minimum cost. Experimental in nature, the mission life was stated to be six months.
STUDSAT was the first picosatellite launched by India, as well as the smallest satellite launched indigenously by any Indian organisation.[5]
The project was initiated by a group of four students from different Engineering colleges ofHyderabad andBangalore who attendedInternational Astronautical Congress (IAC), 2007,Hyderabad, India after meeting Mr. D. V. A. Raghavamurthy (project director, Small Satellites, ISRO Satellite Centre) at the congress. From then the team expanded slowly, ultimately completing the conceptual design. Following the financial budget analysis, the students approached the management of their respective colleges for sponsorship. The colleges, in turn, approachedIndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for preliminary review of the project. ISRO scientists approved the preliminary design review after having a set of meetings with detailed presentations by the students. The initial four member team expanded to around 45 students from 10 different colleges. Seven of the colleges formed a consortium to provide the financial sponsorship for the project. The colleges are bound by an internalMemorandum of understanding (MOU), led by Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, Bangalore as representative college to sign an official Memorandum of understanding with ISRO. The project team is led by Dr. Jharna Majumdar as the project coordinator.[6]
STUDSAT is successfully placed in the orbit and received the first signal on 12 July 2010 at 11:07 am IST (??:07 UTC).
STUDSAT consortium consists of seven Engineering colleges fromHyderabad andBangalore bound by a Memorandum of understanding in order to sponsor the project financially. The consortium comprises the following colleges:
The satellite resembles a small rectangular cube, with length dimensions of 10 cm x 10 cm x 13.5 cm, a weight of almost 950 g. The satellite was launched in 625 kmSun-synchronous orbit. The satellite will perform the function of aremote sensing satellite and take images ofEarth's surface with aresolution of 90 meter, the best achieved by any "PICO" category satellite in the world.
The satellite consists of the following subsystems:
Aground station[7] has been designed in order to communicate with the satellite. The ground station NASTRAC (Nitte Amateur Satellite Tracking Centre) which is established in Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT) was inaugurated byDr K. Radhakrishnan, the current chairman ofISRO.[8] All the above subsystems are designed by students indigenously.
The satellite has completed its mission life. The CDR was conducted in NMIT where several scientists notably Prof.Udupi Ramachandra Rao former chairman ofISRO have evaluated the design.[9] The CDR had been approved byISRO. The satellite was launched byPolar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) on 12 July 2010. The team had taken over control of the satellite from the ground station established at Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT) in Bangalore. The satellite is no longer in contact with the ground station.
Two Line Element Set (TLE) of StudSat-1 are:
Source:AFSPC
The Team STUDSAT is continuing the legacy and building twinnanosatellite for proving the concept ofInter-satellite links (ISL). The design of the Twin-SatellitesSTUDSAT-2A and STUDSAT-2B, are of dimensions 30 cm x 30 cm x 20 cm and weighing less than 10 kg. The main goal of the STUDSAT 2 project is to develop a low-cost small satellite, capable of operating small scientific or technological payloads where real time connectivity is provided by inter-satellite links.
The team has presented a paper titled "Studsat-A Student Pico-Satellite for Imaging" inInternational Astronautical Congress, 2008 which was held inGlasgow,Scotland.[10] The team won Hans Von Muldau Award for the best team project awarded byInternational Astronautical Federation (IAF) and sponsored byDeutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt.[11] The Team has also done a National Record (India) by entering into LIMCA BOOK of RECORDS-2011 Edition for creating the smallest Indian satellite.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.| Satellites |
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