Engineering:AESP-14

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AESP-14
Ncube2.jpg
An 1U cubesat similar to the AESP-14 satellite.
Mission typeIonospheric research
OperatorITA
COSPAR ID1998-067FM
SATCAT no.40389
Websitewww.aer.ita.br
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerITA
Launch mass1 kilogram (2.2 lb)
Dimensions10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm
(3.9 in × 3.9 in × 3.9 in)
Start of mission
Launch date10 January 2015, 09:47:10 (2015-01-10UTC09:47:10Z) UTC
RocketFalcon 9 v1.1
Launch siteCape Canaveral Air Force Station SLC-40
ContractorSpaceX
Deployed fromJapanese Experiment Module (JEM) Small Satellite Orbital Deployer
Deployment date5 February 2015
Entered service5 February 2015, 12:50 (2015-02-05UTC12:50Z) UTC
End of mission
Decay date11 May 2015 (2015-05-12)
 

AESP-14 is a Brazilian 1U Cubesat developed by multiple Brazilian institutions. It was launched on 10 January 2015 aboard the SpaceX CRS-5 mission on a Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket. It was the first Brazilian Cubesat ever launched into space.[1]

On 5 February, the satellite was deployed from the International Space Station using the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) Small Satellite Orbital Deployer,[2] but an unknown malfunction caused it to be unable to transmit any data back to Earth.[3] The satellite reentered the atmosphere on 11 May 2015.[4]

Launch

Launch of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying CRS-5

The launch of the CRS-5 mission, as well as AESP-14, was postponed three times from 16 December 2014 to 10 January 2015.[5] The launch successfully occurred on 10 January 2015.[6]

Failure

The first nanosatellite developed and built entirely in Brazil, after a month in orbit, was declared by the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) on March 4, 2015, to be inoperative due to a failure in the opening system of a transmission antenna.

The AESP-14, launched from the International Space Station on February 5 of the same year, should have started up its antenna 30 minutes after launch, a necessary procedure for sending data to Earth. The equipment, however, did not work. Technicians from the ITA, responsible for the operation, tried several methods to reverse the antenna problem, without success, until the battery of the nanosatellite ended, 15 days after entering orbit.

See also

  • 2015 in spaceflight

References

External links