PicoDragon
PicoDragon is a small satellite that followed the 1U type of CubeSat program built by Vietnam National Satellite Center belong to VAST and operated in space for 3 months.
| Mission type | Technology Reconnaissance |
|---|---|
| Operator | Vietnam National Satellite Center |
| COSPAR ID | 1998-067DB |
| SATCAT no. | 39412 |
| Website | Website of VNSC about Pico Dragon |
| Mission duration | Success and operation in 3 month in the space |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | 1U Cubesat |
| Manufacturer | VNSC |
| Launch mass | 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2:48 6/8/2013 UTC+7 |
| Rocket | Kounotori |
| Launch site | Tanegashima |
| Deployed from | ISS |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
It was the first product to be built in Vietnam in the space technology field. The target for this project is to co-operate in space technology development between Vietnam and Japan. It is also the first Vietnamese satellite to launch successfully to space. Before, there had been 4 satellites launched including: VNREDSat 1A, F-1, Vinasat-1 and Vinasat-2 but F-1 which failed when launching. Vinasat-1, Vinasat-2, VNREDSat 1A were all built by foreign partners or companies.
Specifications
- Size: 10 × 10 × 11,35 cm
- Weight: 0.983 kg
- Time operating: About 3 months
- Orbit
* High: 410 km
* Inclination: 51.6 degrees
- Senses devices:
* CMOS camera (640 × 480 dpi) to take picture about Earth
- Contact by wireless link
* Broadcast station frequency about 437.250 MHz * Telemetry downlink 1k2 bit/s AFSK 800 mW AX.25 about 437.365 MHz * Very high frequency uplink use for control.
Journey
2:48 AM (Vietnamese time zone) 4 August 2013, PicoDragon followed by ArduSat-1, ArduSat-X, TechEdSat-3 of USA and Kirobo robot of Japan were launched at Tanegashima by Kounotori of Japan. Before the launch into orbit to operate by ISS, it was held back to check.
19 November 2013 (Vietnamese time zone) PicoDragon was launch into orbit by ISS. 4 hours later, some first signals were successfully received by the ground station in Japan. After that, the ground station of VNSC also received signals from PicoDragon. Before, 4 August, PicoDragon was successfully launch into ISS through the transport spacecraft HTV-4 of Japan. After more than 3 months in the orbit, PicoDragon completed the mission but burned when it entered the atmosphere.
Future
Follow doctor Pham Anh Tuan, director of Vietnam National Satellite Center, after PicoDragon, Vietnam will build more satellites (10 kg in 2015 and 50 kg in 2017) and in 2020 will launch a 500 kg satellite to observing the Earth from space.
References
HTV4 (KOUNOTORI 4) Mission Press Kit
PicoDragon completed its mission (Vietnamese)
Gunter Krebs (3 August 2013). "PicoDragon". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 4 August 2013.