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ALSAT-1

Mission type	Earth observation
Operator	CNTS / SSTL
COSPAR ID	2002-054A
SATCAT no.	27559
Mission duration	7 years and 9 months
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	SSTL
Launch mass	88 kilograms (194 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	28 November 2002, 06:07:00 (2002-11-28UTC06:07Z) UTC
Rocket	Kosmos-3M
Launch site	Plesetsk Cosmodrome
End of mission
Deactivated	August 2010
Orbital parameters
Regime	Sun synchronous
Periapsis altitude	700 kilometres (430 mi)
Apoapsis altitude	700 kilometres (430 mi)
Inclination	98 degrees
Period	98.5 min

ALSAT-1 is the first Algerian satellite and it is part of a group of satellites collectively known as the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). The satellite was built by a group of engineers from Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) and Algerian Centre National des Techniques Spatiales (CNTS). It was the first DMC satellite to be launched of the five to seven that are planned. The DMC was the first satellite constellation designed for that objective. The launch took place on 28 November 2002 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on a Kosmos-3M launcher in -20 degree Celsius weather. It completed its mission after seven years and nine months in August 2010. The satellite was designed to operate for five years.

AlSat-1 is built on the SSTL-100 platform. The onboard instrumentation consists of two banks with three Earth imaging cameras each that, in total, has a resolution of 32 meters in three spectral bands (NIR, red, and green). The imaging swath of the cameras is 600 km. The satellite was constructed in a fifteen-month time period by the British and Algerians, of which eleven Algerian engineers were trained by SSTL. The satellite uses resistojets for propulsion, and butane as its propellant. The resistojets provide more than 20 m/s of delta velocity.

Operations

This satellite carried the first Slim 6 Line Imager. The imaging opportunities for Algeria is one per day, for two or three days out of five days. During the first three months of operations, more than 80 images were transmitted back to Earth.

See also

• National Space Program (Algeria)

References

1. "SPACEWARN Bulletin". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. 1 December 2002.
2. ^ Cooksley, J; da Silva Curiel, A; Stephens, P; Boland, L; Jason, S; Sun, W; Sweeting, M (2003). ALSAT-1 First Year in Orbit. 17th AIAA / USU Conference on Small Satellites.
3. Gibbon, D; Boland, L; Bean, N; Hashida, Y; da Silva Curiel, A; Sweeting, M; Palmer, P (2004). Commissioning of a Small Satellite Constellation - Methods and Lessons Learned. 18th AIAA / USU Conference on Small Satellites.
4. Boland, L; da Silva Curiel, A; Sweeting, M; Stephens, P; Hodgson, D (2005). Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) – Success Based on Small Satellite Technologies. 19th AIAA / USU Conference on Small Satellites.
5. Wolstenholme, Robin (26 August 2010). "Algeria's first satellite mission completed". Surrey Satellite Technology Limited. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
6. ^ "AlSAT-1: The Mission". Surrey Satellite Technology Limited. Retrieved 2 November 2016.

External links

• AlSAT-1 Info
• Algerian Space Agency information on Alsat-1

v t e Agence Spatiale Algerienne (ASAL)
Satellites	Student Alsat-1N Communication Alcomsat-1 Earth observation Alsat-1 Alsat-1B Alsat-2A Alsat-2B
Launch centers	CIEES (abandoned)
Institutions	(CTS) (CAS) (CDS) (CEST)
Astronomy	Center of Research in Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Geophysics

• Spacecraft launched in 2002
• Earth imaging satellites
• Satellites of Algeria
• First artificial satellites of a country