UPSat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 UPSat moments after deployment from the ISS | |
| Names | QB50 GR02 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Thermosphere research, part of the QB50 mission |
| Operator | Libre Space Foundation |
| COSPAR ID | 1998-067LX |
| SATCAT no. | 42716 |
| Website | http://upsat.gr |
| Mission duration | 18 months |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | University of Patras Libre Space Foundation |
| Launch mass | 2 kg |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 18 April 2017, 15:11:26 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas V 401 (AV-070) |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral SLC-41 |
| Contractor | United Launch Alliance |
| End of mission | |
| Last contact | 25 August 2018 |
| Decay date | 13 November 2018 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Eccentricity | 0.0002187 |
| Inclination | 51.6101° |
| Epoch | Mon, 12 Nov 2018 22:54:40 GMT |
UPSat was the first satellite manufactured in Greece to be successfully launched into orbit,[1] by the University of Patras and Libre Space Foundation (an earlier Greek-made communications satellite, HELMARS-SAT, although entirely constructed by 1999, was not launched due to budget limitations).[2] It was part of the QB50 mission with ID GR-02. The UPSat mission was the first satellite launched into orbit made entirely of open-source software and open-source hardware.[3]
The UPSat mission developed an open-source hardware and software 2U cubesat, minimizing the use of commercial off the shelf components, and providing hardware and software designs under the provisions of the CERN-OHLv2[4] and GNU-GPLv3[5] licenses respectfully. The vast majority of its components were designed from scratch in an open-source software and hardware way.
Mission
UPSat, as part of the QB50 cubesat constellation, was launched to the International Space Station at April 18, 2017 11:11 EDT at Cape Canaveral in Florida, on board an Atlas V rocket transferring the Cygnus cargo spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station with supplies and other scientific experiments. UPSat was released in orbit by the NanoRacks deployer from the International Space Station at 08:24 UTC 2017-05-18. After 30 minutes, UPSat subsystems commenced normal operations in orbit. The SatNOGS ground-station network began receiving telemetry signals from UPSat in several ground-stations deployed globally shortly after its deployment.[6] All data and telemetry is publicly available. UPSat decayed at November 13, 2018.
