| SARA (Satélite de Reentrada Atmosférica) | |
| Operator: | Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço |
| Suborbital Range: | 300 km (planned) |
| Suborbital Apogee: | 350 km (planned) |
| Launch Rocket: | VS-40M |
| Launch Site: | Centro de Lançamento da Barreira do Inferno |
| Destroyed: | Launch failure |
SARA - Satélite de Reentrada Atmosférica is a Brazilian satellite project,[1] with the objective of performing experiments in microgravity environment and returning them to the Earth.[2]
The "Sara suborbital" platform heights 350 kg and is divided into four subsystems:
The proposed flight schedule included a first sub-orbital test flight (SARA Suborbital 1) in 2014[3] [4] using a VS-40 rocket launched from the Centro de Lançamento da Barreira do Inferno (Operação São Lourenço). The predicted apogee was 350 km with a range of 300 km. Time spent in microgravity would be around 8 minutes, after which the satellite would reenter the atmosphere and be recovered at sea, 100 km out from Parnaíba.
On 13 November 2015 the launch was attempted, resulting in an explosion of the VS-40M V03 rocket on the pad.[5]
A second suborbital flight was planned (SARA Suborbital 2), to test flight attitude control system and de-orbit engine.
The orbital version of the satellite will operate in a circular 300 km low Earth orbit, during a maximum of 10 days.