View source for Engineering:AlSAT-1

{{Infobox spaceflight
| name                  = ALSAT-1
| image                 = File:AlSat.jpg
| image_caption         = AlSat in orbit.

| mission_type          = Earth observation
| operator              = CNTS / SSTL
| website               = <!-- Homepage of the craft/mission -->
| COSPAR_ID             = 2002-054A<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx589.html|title=SPACEWARN Bulletin|issue=589|date=1 December 2002|website=NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive}}</ref> 
| SATCAT                = 
| mission_duration      = {{time interval|28 November 2002|August 2010}}

| spacecraft_bus        = 
| manufacturer          = SSTL
| dry_mass              = 
| launch_mass           = {{convert|88|kg|lb}}
| dimensions            = 
| power                 =

| launch_date           = {{start-date|28 November 2002, 06:07:00|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;UTC 
| launch_rocket         = [[Engineering:Kosmos-3M|Kosmos-3M]] 
| launch_site           = Plesetsk Cosmodrome
| launch_contractor     =

| disposal_type         = 
| deactivated           = August 2010
| last_contact          = <!-- {{end-date|[insert date here]}} -->
| decay_date            = <!-- when craft re-entered the atmosphere -->

| orbit_epoch           = 
| orbit_reference       = 
| orbit_regime          = [[Astronomy:Sun-synchronous orbit|Sun synchronous]]
| orbit_periapsis       = {{convert|700|km|mi}}
| orbit_apoapsis        = {{convert|700|km|mi}}
| orbit_inclination     = 98 degrees
| orbit_period          = 98.5 min
}}

'''ALSAT-1'''<ref name="a2003">{{cite web|first1=J|last1=Cooksley|first2=A|last2=da Silva Curiel|first3=P|last3=Stephens|first4=L|last4=Boland|first5=S|last5=Jason|first6=W|last6=Sun|first7=M|last7=Sweeting|url=http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2003/All2003/38/|title=ALSAT-1 First Year In Orbit|conference=17th AIAA / USU Conference on Small Satellites|date=2003}}</ref> is the first Algerian satellite and it is part of a group of satellites collectively known as the [[Engineering:Disaster Monitoring Constellation|Disaster Monitoring Constellation]] (DMC).<ref>{{cite web|first1=D|last1=Gibbon|first2=L|last2=Boland|first3=N|last3=Bean|first4=Y|last4=Hashida|first5=A|last5=da Silva Curiel|first6=M|last6=Sweeting|first7=P|last7=Palmer|url=http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2004/All2004/51/|title=Commissioning of a Small Satellite Constellation - Methods and Lessons Learned|conference=18th AIAA / USU Conference on Small Satellites|date=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first1=L|last1=Boland|first2=A|last2=da Silva Curiel|first3=M|last3=Sweeting|first4=P|last4=Stephens|first5=D|last5=Hodgson|url=http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2005/all2005/19/|title=Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) – Success Based On Small Satellite Technologies|conference=19th AIAA / USU Conference on Small Satellites|date=2005}}</ref> The satellite was built by a group of engineers from [[Company:Surrey Satellite Technology|Surrey Satellite Technology]] (SSTL) and Algerian Centre National des Techniques Spatiales (CNTS). It was the first DMC satellite to be launched of the five to seven that are planned. The DMC was the first satellite constellation designed for that objective. The launch took place on 28 November 2002 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on a [[Engineering:Kosmos-3M|Kosmos-3M]] launcher in -20 degree Celsius weather. It completed its mission after seven years and nine months in August 2010. The satellite was designed to operate for five years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sstl.co.uk/Blog/August-2010/Algeria-s-first-satellite-mission-completed|title=Algeria’s first satellite mission completed|first1=Robin|last1=Wolstenholme|website=SSTL space blog|date=26 August 2010}}</ref>

AlSat-1 is built on the SSTL-100 platform. The onboard instrumentation consists of two banks with three Earth imaging cameras each that, in total, has a resolution of 32 meters in three spectral bands (NIR, red, and green). The imaging swath of the cameras is 600&nbsp;km. The satellite was constructed in a fifteen-month time period by the British and Algerians, of which eleven Algerian engineers were trained by SSTL.<ref name="sstl" /> The satellite uses resistojets for propulsion, and butane as its propellant. The resistojets provide more than 20&nbsp;m/s of delta velocity.<ref name="a2003" />

== Operations ==

This satellite carried the first Slim 6 Line Imager. The imaging opportunities for Algeria is one per day, for two or three days out of five days. During the first three months of operations, more than 80 images were transmitted back to Earth.<ref name="sstl">{{cite web|url=http://www.sstl.co.uk/Missions/AlSAT-1-Launched-2002/AlSAT-1/AlSAT-1-The-Mission|title=AlSAT-1: The Mission|access-date=2 November 2016|website=Surrey Satellite Technology Limited}}</ref><ref name="a2003" />

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==See also==
*Algeria national space programs

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/alsat-1.htm AlSAT-1 Info]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161027155347/http://www.asal.dz/Alsat%201.php Algerian Space Agency information on Alsat-1]

[[Category:Earth observation satellites]]

{{Sourceattribution|AlSAT-1|1}}