A nanosatellite built by employees and students of Tel Aviv University was put into orbit on Saturday.
The satellite, called TAU-SAT1, is the first of its kind to be independently developed, assembled and tested by an Israeli university. It was carried into space aboard a NASA supply rocket to the International Space Station, and from there, ISS astronauts launched it into orbit.
TAU-SAT1 development was completed about four months ago and was further tested by the Japanese space agency JAXA before being sent to the ISS. It will perform various experiments in orbit, including measurements of cosmic rays around the Earth.
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“This is a nanosatellite, or miniature satellite, of the CubeSat variety,” said Ofer Amrani, head of the Miniature Satellite Lab at Tel Aviv University. “The satellite’s dimensions are 10 by 10 by 30 centimeters (2.5 by 2.5 by 12 inches), and it weighs less than 2.5 kilograms (about five pounds) … In total, the satellite is expected to be will be active for several months. Since it has no engine, its trajectory will fade over time due to atmospheric resistance – and eventually it will burn up in the atmosphere and come back to us as stardust. ”
At an altitude of 400 kilometers (250 miles) above sea level, TAU-SAT1 will orbit the Earth at a speed of 27,600 kilometers per hour, or 7.6 kilometers per second, circuiting the Earth every 90 minutes traveled.
“It’s a big day for TAU,” said Colin Price, chief of the Porter Department of Environmental Studies. “We have now joined the ‘Civil Space Revolution’ called New Space, in which, unlike Old Space, not only gigantic companies with huge budgets and large teams of engineers can build and launch satellites.
“A few years ago we founded the Center for Nanosatellites, with the aim of building a small ‘CubeSat’ for research purposes. We have been able to prove that with proper planning, miniaturization, and modulation of many technologies, small satellites can be built by students and launched into space within two years, at a fraction of the budget required in Old Space. ”
Meir Ariel, director of TAU’s Center for Nanosatellites, said of the TAU-SAT1 mission: “We know that high-energy particles are moving through space from the cosmic rays of the sun. Our scientific task is to monitor this radiation and to measure the flux of these particles and their products. It should be understood that space is a hostile environment not only for humans but also for electronic systems. When these particles hit astronauts or electronic equipment in space, they can cause significant damage. The scientific information collected by our satellite will make it possible to design protective equipment for astronauts and space systems. ”
With the infrastructure of TAU-SAT1 in place, the university’s researchers are already planning to develop their second nanosatellite, tentatively named TAU-SAT2.
