| Mission type | Earth observation |
|---|---|
| Operator | Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Istanbul Technical University |
| COSPAR ID | 2009-051E |
| SATCAT no. | 35935 |
| Website | http://usl.itu.edu.tr/usl.itu.edu.tr |
| Mission duration | 6 months |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Pumpkin Inc. |
| Launch mass | 990 g |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 23 September 2009 |
| Rocket | PSLV-C14 |
| Launch site | Satish Dhawan, FLP |
| Contractor | Indian Space Research Organisation |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous |
| Perigee altitude | 712.0 km |
| Apogee altitude | 721.0 km |
| Inclination | 98.28° |
| Period | 98.50 minutes |
| Epoch | 23 September 2009 [1] |
ITUpSAT1, short for Istanbul Technical University picoSatellite-1, is a single CubeSat built by the Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Istanbul Technical University. It was launched on 23 September 2009 atop a PSLV-C14 satellite launch vehicle from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh in India, and became the first Turkish university satellite to orbit the Earth.[2] It was expected to have a minimum of six-month life term, but it is still functioning for over two years. It is a picosatellite with side lengths of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) and a mass of 0.990 kilograms (2.18 lb).
The overall objectives are to provide a hands-on project environment for the students at the ITU under faculty guidance. The mission goals are to capture imagery of the CMOS payload, and to study the behavior of the passive stabilisation system of the CubeSat.
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ "İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi". Archived from the original on 21 February 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2009.