Surrey successfully launch two more satellites

Miss Audrey Nice

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd

01483 259278
a.nice@ee.surrey.ac.uk

Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) yesterday successfully launched its two latest satellites.

SNAP-1, weighing just 6.5kg, the worldís most advanced nanosatellite, was launched with another Surrey-built satellite, Tsinghua-1 – a microsatellite built as a collaborative project with Chinese customer, Tsinghua University.

In Beijing, Tsinghua engineers were able to activate the Tsinghua-1 microsatellite on its first pass at 18:30 BST, 28 June. In Guildford, at approximately 0240 BST, 29 June, the SNAP-1 team at the Surrey Mission Control Centre transmitted commands to the nanosatellite on its first pass over Surrey. For both spacecraft these commands immediately activated the satellitesí downlink and telemetry systems. Telemetry was received and indicated that all systems on-board both satellites were working as expected.

The two satellites will demonstrate, for the first time, orbital formation flying when SNAP-1 and Tsinghua-1 will rendezvous via an intersatellite link some weeks into the mission.

The launch, onboard a Cosmos launch vehicle, took place on schedule at 11:37 BST from the Plesestk Cosmodrome, northern Russia. The two Surrey-built satellites rode piggyback on the Russian Nadezhda COSPAS-SARSAT satellite and will operate in a 650km sun-synchronous orbit.

Professor Martin Sweeting, SSTLís Managing Director, gave a running commentary to staff at the Surrey Space Centre Guildford via a live audio link, which included Beijing where Chris Jackson, Surreyís Groundstation Manager, stood-by ready to advise during the commissioning of the Tsinghua-1 microsatellite.

An internally funded research and development project, SNAP-1 will evaluate the use of commercial micro-miniature technologies and use its four CMOS video cameras to demonstrate the remote sensing of other spacecraft in-orbit – in this case Tsinghua-1.

Chinaís Tsinghua-1 microsatellite carries multispectral Earth imaging cameras as a demonstrator for SSTLís forthcoming Disaster Monitoring Constellation of mcirosatellites, as well as experimental communications payloads.

Tsinghua-1 is also Surreyís first full 3-axis controlled microsatellite, following successful demonstration of key attitude control technologies on previous micro- and minisatellite missions.

Further commissioning reports for both satellites will be posted on SSTLís web site at: www.sstl.co.uk.