AzaadiSAT
Mission typeEarth observation
OperatorISRO
Websitehttps://www.isro.gov.in/
Mission duration55 minutes
Orbits completed<1
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftCubeSat
ManufacturerSpace Kidz India
Launch mass8 kg
Start of mission
Launch date03:48 UTC, 7 August 2022
RocketSmall Satellite Launch Vehicle
Launch siteSatish Dhawan Space Centre, First launch Pad (FLP)
ContractorISRO
End of mission
Decay date7 August 2022 04:43 UTC
Orbital parameters
RegimeLow Earth (intended)
Transatmospheric (achieved)
Periapsis altitude76 km (47 mi)
Apoapsis altitude356 (221 mi)
Inclination37.2
 

AzaadiSAT was an Indian Earth observation 8U Cubesat weighing around 8 kg developed by the Space Kidz India as a test payload on the maiden launch of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV). It was hitching a ride with EOS-02, the primary satellite of the mission. The launch on 7 August 2022 was a failure in the rocket leading to imminent return to atmosphere for the rocket and the satellites (AzaadiSAT and EOS-02) it carried, destroying them all.

Its successor AzaadiSAT-2 was launched onboard SSLV-D2.[1]

Development

It was created to mark India’s 75th year of independence. This anniversary was being marked in 2022 by the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations throughout the country, and the CubeSat was part of this campaign. AzaadiSAT was built by schoolgirls from 75 schools across India. 10 girls from each school were involved, for a total of 750 students involved. The mission was created to give girls from lower-income backgrounds the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of spaceflight, as part of the United Nations theme of “women in space.” It gave a feeling of pride and importance to women when the satellite was launched[2]

Characteristics

It carried 75 different payloads each weighing around 50 grams and conducting femto-experiments. Girl students from rural regions across the country were provided guidance to build these payloads. The payloads were integrated by the student team of "Space Kidz India". The payloads included a UHF-VHF transponder working in ham radio frequency to enable voice and data transmission for amateur radio operators, a solid state PIN diode-based radiation counter to measure the ionising radiation in its orbit, a long-range transponder and a selfie camera to take pictures of its solar panels and the Earth. The ground system developed by ‘Space Kidz India’ was to be utilised for receiving the data from this satellite.[3]

Launch

AzaadiSAT was launched on Small Satellite Launch Vehicle's maiden flight SSLV-D1 at 03:48 UTC / 09:18 IST on 7 August 2022,[4][5] but failed to reach the intended orbit.[6] Due to the final VTM stage failure, the stage as well as the two satellite payloads were injected into an unstable elliptical orbit measuring 356km x 76km and subsequently destroyed upon reentry.[7]

AzaadiSAT-2

AzaadiSAT-2, the official successor of AzaadiSAT, was placed in a 450km circular orbit. It was launched onboard SSLV-D2. It features a modular satellite bus expansion system capable of transforming from 8U to 64U once in orbit. Other payloads remains unchanged from the original AzaadiSAT.AzaadiSAT-2 aims to measure various health data like temperature and reset count from 75 student experiments installed inside the satellite.[8][9]

References

  1. ↑ "SSLV-D2/EOS-07 MISSION". www.isro.gov.in. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  2. ↑ "ISRO's new SSLV small satellite launcher debuts - mission success unclear". NASASpaceFlight.com. 2022-08-06. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  3. ↑ "SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission - ISRO". Archived from the original on 2022-08-07. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  4. ↑ "ISRO's next-gen rocket SSLV to have maiden launch by July-end". WION. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  5. ↑ Indian Space Research Organisation [@ISRO] (August 1, 2022). "The launch of the SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission is scheduled for Sunday, August 7, 2022, at 9:18 am (IST) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. ISRO invites citizens to the Launch View Gallery at SDSC to witness the launch" (Tweet). Retrieved 1 August 2022 – via Twitter.
  6. ↑ "ISRO plans to launch new rocket before Dec 2020". Tribuneindia News Service.
  7. ↑ "ISRO's Maiden Small Satellite Rocket Flight Ends in Doubt After Engine Fails to Fire". The Wire. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
  8. ↑ "SatNOGS DB - AzaadiSAT-2". db.satnogs.org. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  9. ↑ @SpaceKidzIndia (February 9, 2023). "It's T Minus 17 hours for the launch of our next-gen satellite #AzaadiSAT2 aboard @isro's #SSLVD2 LV. It gets launched in an 8U form factor but it's the biggest satellite we've built so far, measuring 64U in fully expanded conditions" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 February 2023 – via Twitter.
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