Mission type | Technology |
---|---|
Operator | IST |
COSPAR ID | 2013-066S |
SATCAT no. | 39432 |
Website | www |
Mission duration | 2 years |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | 1U CubeSat |
Manufacturer | IST |
Launch mass | 1.08 kilograms (2.4 lb) |
Power | 2 watts |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 21 November 2013, 07:10:17 UTC [1] |
Rocket | Dnepr |
Launch site | Dombarovsky 370/13 |
Contractor | Kosmotras |
Deployed from | UniSat-5 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Sun-Synchronous |
Perigee altitude | 594 kilometres (369 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 641 kilometres (398 mi) |
Inclination | 97.77 degrees |
Period | 96.91 minutes |
Epoch | 25 May 2014, 03:28:35 UTC [2] |
iCube-1 is a miniaturised satellite built by the Institute of Space Technology in Pakistan, with an objective to provide a wide range of future experiments in the domain of imaging, microgravity, biology, nanotechnology, space dynamics, chemistry, space physics and various other fields. It can also provide a testbed for developing satellite constellations for specific applications.
Launched in Low Earth Orbit, onboard Dnepr launch vehicle from Dombarovsky, Russia. It houses several sensors to collect data for scientific purposes. iCUBE-1 is a fully autonomous satellite and is capable of maintaining its health via its on-board computer. It is a single-unit CubeSat, cubic in shape with sides of 10 centimetres (3.9 in). Five sides of the satellites carry two triple-junction (ATJ) solar cells, providing the spacecraft with 2 watts of power. Each cell has dimensions of 40 by 80 millimetres (1.6 in × 3.1 in), and at the beginning of operations has an efficiency of at least 27.5% at 25 °C.
iCube-1 carries a camera with a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels. Communications with the ground are achieved through a 435.060 MHz uplink audio frequency-shift keying to provide a datarate of 1,200 bits per second. The 145.947 MHz downlink, which uses binary phase-shift keying, also provides a datarate of 1,200 bits per second. The satellite also carries CW and AX25 beacons. The programme cost around 3-3.5 million rupees.
Spokesperson IST Raza Butt said that it is a positive move for technology in Pakistan. "The world is moving towards miniaturization. The launch cost is significantly low for CubeSats as compared to the bigger satellites. The low cost factor is very attractive for researchers who can test their payloads using these cubesats and then incorporate this technology in their bigger satellites", he commented.
Initially, iCUBE-1 will transmit a Continuous Wave Morse coded beacon with message “iCUBE-1 First CubeSat of Pakistan”. Amateur radio operators have a great opportunity to hear those signals on the VHF band. The satellite will send its health data to ground stations and can also be commanded from Satellite tracking and Control Station at IST. [3] [4] [5]
A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of 10 cm (3.9 in) cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than 2 kg (4.4 lb) per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats are deployed into orbit from the International Space Station, or launched as secondary payloads on a launch vehicle. As of December 2023, more than 2,300 CubeSats have been launched.
The Institute of Space Technology is a public university located in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is focused on the study of astronomy, aerospace engineering, avionics engineering and astronautics.
Rincon 1 was a CubeSat built by the Student Satellite Program of the University of Arizona. The primary payload was furnished by Rincon Research, hence the name. Rincon 1 was the product of the work of about 50 students, ranging from college freshmen to Ph.D. students, over the course of several years. It was launched, after being postponed several times, on board a Dnepr on July 26, 2006, but the rocket failed and the satellite was destroyed.
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ITUpSAT1, short for Istanbul Technical University picoSatellite-1, is a single CubeSat built by the Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Istanbul Technical University. It was launched on 23 September 2009 atop a PSLV-C14 satellite launch vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh in India, and became the first Turkish university satellite to orbit the Earth. It was expected to have a minimum of six-month life term, but it is still functioning for over two years. It is a picosatellite with side lengths of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) and a mass of 0.990 kilograms (2.18 lb).
NanoSail-D2 was a small satellite built by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and Ames Research Center to study the deployment of a solar sail in space. It was a three-unit CubeSat, measuring 30 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm with a mass of 4 kg (8.8 lb). Its solar sail had an area of 10 m2 (110 sq ft), and was deployed in around five seconds.
F-1 is a CubeSat built by FSpace laboratory at FPT University, in Hanoi, Vietnam, in partnership with Angstrom Space Technology Center (ASTC), Uppsala University, Sweden and Nanoracks LLC, United States. Its mission is to train young engineers and students about aerospace engineering and evaluate an advanced three-axis magnetometer, Spin-Dependent Tunneling Magnetometer (SDTM) designed in Sweden by ASTC.
Technology Education Satellite (TechEdSat) is a successful nano-sat flight series conducted from the NASA Ames Research Center in collaboration with numerous universities. While one of the principal aims has been to introduce young professionals and university students to the practical realm of developing space flight hardware, considerable innovations have been introduced. In addition, this evolving flight platform has tested concepts for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) sample return, as well as planetary nano-sat class mission concepts.
PW-Sat is a series of Polish CubeSats designed and built by students at the Warsaw University of Technology in conjunction with the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering of Warsaw University of Technology, the Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences, and the European Space Agency. As of January 1, 2024, there have been 2 PW-Sats with a third in development. The first PW-Sat was the first Polish artificial satellite which was launched 13 February 2012 from ELA-1 at Guiana Space Centre aboard Italian-built Vega launch vehicle during its maiden voyage. After their graduation, the team that developed the original PW-Sat have also worked to develop the subsequent missions, establishing a private company named PW-Sat to design and manufacturer the PW-Sats, all of which test novel deorbiting methods, with the overall goal of the program to develop solutions to space debris.
e-st@r was a miniaturised satellite built by the Politecnico di Torino. It was a 1U CubeSat design with a 10 cm side and a mass not exceeding 1.33 kg.
ESTCube-1 is the first Estonian satellite and first satellite in the world to attempt to use an electric solar wind sail (E-sail). It was launched on 7 May 2013 aboard Vega VV02 carrier rocket and successfully deployed into orbit. The CubeSat standard for nanosatellites was followed during the engineering of ESTCube-1, resulting in a 10×10×11.35 cm cube, with a volume of 1 liter and a mass of 1.048 kg.
LituanicaSAT-1 was one of the first two Lithuanian satellites. It was launched along with the second Cygnus spacecraft and 28 Flock-1 CubeSats aboard an Antares 120 carrier rocket flying from Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island to the International Space Station. The launch was scheduled to occur in December 2013, but later was rescheduled to 9 January 2014 and occurred then. The satellite was broadcasting greetings of Lithuanian president, Mrs. Dalia Grybauskaitė. The satellite was deployed from the International Space Station via the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer on 28 February 2014. All LituanicaSAT-1 subsystems have been turned on, tested and proved to be working properly. The mission is considered a complete success by its team of engineers. The mission ended upon the reentry and disintegration of the satellite on 28 July 2014.
Space Tethered Autonomous Robotic Satellite II or STARS-II, was a nanosatellite built by Japan's Kagawa University to test an electrodynamic tether in low Earth orbit, a follow-on to the STARS mission.
ZACube-1 (TshepisoSat), is a South African CubeSat that carries a high frequency beacon transmitter to be used for space weather research. It was launched 21 November 2013 on a Dnepr launch vehicle from Yasny, Russia. Tshepiso is the seSotho word for promise.
EQUiSat was a 1U CubeSat designed and built by Brown Space Engineering, an undergraduate student group at Brown University's School of Engineering. EQUiSat's mission was to test a battery technology that had never flown in space which powered an beacon that was designed to be visible from Earth.
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ICUBE-Q or ICUBE-QAMAR is a Pakistani lunar remote sensing observation nanosatellite and is one of the four international payloads of the Chang'e 6 lunar sample-return mission. It is a joint venture between the Institute of Space Technology (IST), Space & Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and the Intelligent Satellite Technology Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), under the framework of Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO). It is the first deep space mission of Pakistan.