| e-st@r | |
| Names List: | est@r e-star |
| Mission Type: | Technology demonstration |
| Operator: | Politecnico di Torino |
| Cospar Id: | 2012-006C |
| Satcat: | 38079 |
| Mission Duration: | Final: |
| Spacecraft Type: | CubeSat |
| Manufacturer: | Politecnico di Torino |
| Launch Date: | 13 February 2012, 10:00:00 UTC[1] |
| Launch Rocket: | Vega (VV01) |
| Launch Site: | Kourou, ELV |
| Launch Contractor: | Arianespace |
| Last Contact: | 10 February 2016 |
| Disposal Type: | Re-Entry |
| Deactivated: | 13 February 2016 |
| Decay Date: | 14 February 2016 |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric orbit[2] |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth orbit |
| Orbit Inclination: | 69.47° |
| Orbit Period: | 98.47 minutes |
| Apsis: | gee |
e-st@r (Educational Satellite @ Politecnico di Torino) was a miniaturised satellite built by the Politecnico di Torino.[3] It was a 1U CubeSat design with a 10 cm side and a mass not exceeding 1.33 kg.
In 2006 the Polytechnic University of Turin had tried to put one of its satellites into orbit (PiCPoT), but the Dnepr launcher used exploded a few seconds after the start and destroyed itself.
In 2009 the European Space Agency in view of the inaugural launch of Vega (which being the first launch had a high probability of failure) offered 9 seats on the carrier for the same number of cubesats, plus another two seats for larger satellites. Only 7 of the cubesats managed to be prepared in time for launch:
They were launched into low Earth Orbit on the maiden flight of Arianespace's Vega rocket on 13 February 2012 on a multi-payload mission shared with LARES of the Italian Space Agency and ALMASat-1 of the University of Bologna.
The satellite was successfully deployed into orbit, and the signal was received by the team's ground station and by amateur radio operators.[4] However, operations have been impeded by unexpected tumbling, and the satellite was put into safe mode.[5]
The communication system uses a processor PIC and communicates with the ground at a frequency of 437.445 MHz with a power of 0.5 W. The frequencies have been assigned to cubesats by ESA.
A total of about 50,000 euros was spent on the design and construction of the satellite.
The orbit is inclined 71° and is slightly elliptical. It also crosses the van Allen belts.
The satellite was created by the CubeSatTeam of the Polytechnic of Turin, responsible for creating picosatellites.[6]