 A replica of Heweliusz (BRITE-PL) | |
| Country of origin | Canada Austria Poland |
|---|---|
| Applications | Astronomy |
| Specifications | |
| Bus | Generic Nanosatellite Bus |
| Launch mass | 10 kilograms (22 lb) |
| Dimensions | 20 centimetres (7.9 in) cube |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Production | |
| Status | Operational |
| Built | 6 |
| Launched | 6 |
| Operational | 3 |
| Retired | 2 |
| Lost | 1 |
 BRITE Mission Logo | |
BRITE-Constellation is an ongoing space mission carrying out two-band photometry in wide fields with a constellation of six (presently, three operational) BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) nanosatellites. The mission was built by a consortium of three countries, Canada, Austria, and Poland, each operating two BRITE satellites. The six satellites were launched into low-Earth orbits between February 2013 and August 2014. Each satellite is a cube-shaped spacecraft with sides of 20 centimetres (7.9 in) hosting an optical telescope of 3 centimetres (1.2 in) aperture feeding an uncooled CCD with a field of view of approximately 20° × 24°. The satellites were intended for photometry of the brightest stars in single passband located in the blue (three satellites) or red (the other three satellites) part of the optical range.