MIDSTAR I (USNA)

'MidSTAR-1' is an artificial satellite that is part of the United States Naval Academy MidSTAR Program and Small Satellite Program (SSP).^[1] It is sponsored by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program (STP), and was launched on March 8, 2007, aboard an Atlas V expendable launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, along with FalconSat 3, STPSat 1, and CFESat as secondary payloads. The primary payload was Orbital Express.
=MidSTAR-1 Mission (USNA-5)=
''MidSTAR is a general-purpose satellite bus capable of supporting a variety of space missions by easily accommodating a wide range of space experiments and instruments. The integration of the experiments with the satellite bus must be accomplished with minimal changes to the satellite bus design. MidSTAR is intended to be a relatively low-cost, quick response platform accommodating small payloads approved by the DoD Space Experiments Review Board (SERB) and awaiting launch through STP.''
MidSTAR satellites are of two types. MidSTAR mod 1 is designed for use on the Expendable Secondary Payload Adaptor (ESPA) Ring developed by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for placement on Delta IV or Atlas V expendable launch vehicles. MidSTAR mod 2, still to be developed, will be designed for deployment from the Space Shuttle via the Canister All Payload Ejection (CAPE) system developed by AFRL.
Both mods are Class D spacecraft, produced at minimum cost with a correspondingly higher technical risk in production and operation. Both types of spacecraft are intentionally simple in design and rugged in construction, using commercial off-the-shelf “plug-and-play” components to the greatest extent possible. Component development and circuit-board level design are accomplished only when necessary.
MidSTAR-1 is the first implementation of the mod 1 design. It has been commissioned by STP to carry the Internet Communications Satellite (ICSat) Experiment for SSP and the Configurable Fault Tolerant Processor (CFTP) Experiment for Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). The mission, with support for those and other experiments, is intended to last two years.

Contents

Design Decisions for MidSTAR-1

MidSTAR-1 Success Criteria

References

See also

Design Decisions for MidSTAR-1

★ Uplink 1.767 GHz with an IF frequency of 435 MHz;

★ Downlink 2.20226 GHz;

★ Gaussian Mean Shift Key modulation;

★ 68.4 kbit/s or better data rate;

★ Open source software based on Linux operating system.

★ No attitude control or determination;

★ No active thermal control.

★ Mass not to exceed 120 kg.

★ 492 km circular orbit, 46 degree inclination. No requirement on right ascension of the ascending node.

MidSTAR-1 Success Criteria

'One hundred percent success will be the successful launch and operation of the satellite with full support for the two primary experiments for two years.'
'Fifty percent success will be the successful launch and operation of the satellite with:'

★ Full support of one primary experiment for two years;

★ Full support of both primary experiments for one year; or,

★ Partial support of both primary experiments for two years.
'Thirty-three percent success will be the successful launch of the satellite and full operation of the satellite bus with partial support of any combination of primary and secondary payloads for any length of time.'

References

1. [http://web.usna.navy.mil/~brsmith/SmallSat.html

See also

★ USNA MidSTAR Program

★ eoPortal describes MidSTAR-1