Waseda-SAT2

Waseda-SAT2
Mission type	Technology; Remote sensing
Operator	Waseda University
COSPAR ID	2010-020B
SATCAT no.	36574
Website	www.miyashita.mmech.waseda.ac.jp/Waseda-Sat2/index.htm
Mission duration	53 days
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	1U CubeSat
Launch mass	1.2 kilograms (2.6 lb)
Dimensions	10-centimetre (3.9 in) cube
Start of mission
Launch date	20 May 2010, 21:58:22 UTC
Rocket	H-IIA 202
Launch site	Tanegashima Yoshinobu 1
Contractor	Mitsubishi
End of mission
Decay date	12 July 2010
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee altitude	290 kilometres (180 mi)
Apogee altitude	303 kilometres (188 mi)
Inclination	29.9 degrees
Period	90.44 minutes
Epoch	23 May 2010

Waseda-SAT2 is a Japanese satellite which launched in May 2010. It is a student-built spacecraft, which will be operated by Waseda University, and is intended to be used for Earth observation^[2] and technology demonstration. It will test the use of extendible paddles to provide attitude control.^[3] The satellite is a single unit CubeSat.

The launch was conducted by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries under contract to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. In preparation for a planned launch on 17 May, the H-IIA rocket was rolled out to Pad 1 of the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Centre on 16 May 2010. It departed the assembly building at 21:01 UTC and arriving at the launch pad 24 minutes later at 21:25 UTC.^[4] The terminal countdown began at 11:30 UTC on 17 May and by 15:28, the loading of cryogenic propellant into the rocket's first and second stages had been completed.^[4] The launch attempt was scrubbed a few minutes before liftoff due to bad weather, but took place successfully at 21:58:22 UTC on 20 May 2010.

Waseda was deployed from a JAXA Picosatellite Deployer attached to the second stage of the H-IIA 202 rocket used in the launch of the Akatsuki spacecraft towards Venus. A second dispenser contained K-Sat and the Negai ☆ satellite. The three CubeSats separated into low Earth orbit during a coast phase of the launch, between the first and second burns of the second stage. The rocket then continued to Heliocentric orbit, where it deployed Akatsuki, along with the IKAROS and UNITEC-1 spacecraft.^[5]

References

^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
^ Krebs, Gunter. "Waseda-SAT2". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
^ "WASEDA-SAT2". Waseda Satellite Project (in Japanese). Waseda University. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Countdown Report". H-IIA Launch Services Flight 17. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
^ "Overview of Secondary Payloads". Akatsuki Special Site. JAXA. Retrieved 17 May 2010.