ISTSat-1
Rendering of ISTSat-1 | |
| Mission type | ADS-B |
|---|---|
| Operator | Instituto Superior Técnico |
| COSPAR ID | 2024-128D |
| SATCAT no. | 60238 |
| Website | istsat-one |
| Mission duration | 1 Year |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
| Manufacturer | IST NanosatLab |
| Payload mass | 1.095 kg (2.41 lb) |
| Dimensions | 10 cm x 10 cm x 10.3 cm (1U) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | July 9, 2024, 19:00 UTC (21:00 CEST) |
| Rocket | Ariane 6 |
| Launch site | Guiana Space Centre, ELA-4 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Periapsis altitude | 575.6 km |
| Apoapsis altitude | 590.3 km |
| Inclination | 62.0 ° |
| Period | 96.2 minutes |
The ISTSat-1 is a Portuguese nanosatellite developed by students and researchers of the Instituto Superior Técnico (University of Lisbon), that was launched into orbit on 9 July 2024, aboard the Ariane 6 maiden flight. The project is part of the European Space Agency's "Fly Your Satellite!" programme. It is the third Portuguese satellite in space, after the PoSAT-1 and the AEROS MH-1, and the first to have been entirely designed and built in Portugal.
The ISTSat-1 is a CubeSat developed to optimise and complement aircraft surveillance systems by demonstrating the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) aircraft detection technology in orbit. Its mission lifetime is expected to be 12 months.