E-st@r

e-st@r

The Polytechnic University of Turin CubeSat
Names	est@r e-star
Mission type	Technology demonstration
Operator	Politecnico di Torino
COSPAR ID	2012-006C
SATCAT no.	38079
Mission duration	Final: 4 years
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	CubeSat
Manufacturer	Politecnico di Torino
Launch mass	1 kg (2.2 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	13 February 2012, 10:00:00 UTC[1]
Rocket	Vega (VV01)
Launch site	Kourou, ELV
Contractor	Arianespace
End of mission
Disposal	Re-Entry
Deactivated	13 February 2016
Last contact	10 February 2016
Decay date	14 February 2016
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit[2]
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	302 km (188 mi)
Apogee altitude	1,082 km (672 mi)
Inclination	69.47°
Period	98.47 minutes

e-st@r (Educational Satellite @ Politecnico di Torino) was a miniaturised satellite built by the Politecnico di Torino.^[3] It was a 1U CubeSat design with a 10 cm side and a mass not exceeding 1.33 kg.

Launch and deployment

In 2006 the Polytechnic University of Turin had tried to put one of its satellites into orbit (PiCPoT), but the Dnepr launcher used exploded a few seconds after the start and destroyed itself.

In 2009 the European Space Agency in view of the inaugural launch of Vega (which being the first launch had a high probability of failure) offered 9 seats on the carrier for the same number of cubesats, plus another two seats for larger satellites. Only 7 of the cubesats managed to be prepared in time for launch:

• e-st@r of the Polytechnic of Turin,
• Goliat of the Romanian Space Agency,
• MaSat-1 of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics,
• PW-Sat of the Warsaw Polytechnic,
• ROBUSTA of the University of Montpellier II,
• UniCubeSat-GG of the University of Rome La Sapienza,
• Xatcobeo of the University of Vigo.

They were launched into low Earth Orbit on the maiden flight of Arianespace's Vega rocket on 13 February 2012 on a multi-payload mission shared with LARES of the Italian Space Agency and ALMASat-1 of the University of Bologna.

The satellite was successfully deployed into orbit, and the signal was received by the team's ground station and by amateur radio operators.^[4] However, operations have been impeded by unexpected tumbling, and the satellite was put into safe mode.^[5]

The communication system used a PIC microcontroller and communicated with the ground at a frequency of 437.445 MHz with a power of 0.5 W. The frequencies had been assigned to cubesats by ESA.

A total of about 50,000 euros were spent on the design and construction of the satellite.

The orbit was inclined 71° and slightly elliptical. It also crossed the van Allen belts.

The satellite was created by the CubeSatTeam of the Polytechnic of Turin, responsible for creating picosatellites. The team later developed e-st@r-II to be sent to the orbit again as part of ESA's "Fly Your Satellite" program in 2016.^[6]

See also

• Politecnico di Torino
• e-st@r-II
• List of CubeSats

References

1. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Report. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
2. "Display: E-STAR 2012-006C". N2YO.com. 31 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
3. Sabrina Corpino, Nicole Viola, Fabrizio Stesina, and Sergio Chiesa, "Design and development of the e-st@r CubeSat", Paper IAC-09.B4.6B.3, 2009 International Astronautical Congress (accessed 16 August 2013)
4. E-ST@R successfully launched (accessed 16 August 2013)
5. eoPortal Directory, E-ST@R (Educational SaTellite @ politecnico di toRino) (accessed 16 August 2013)
6. Stesina, Fabrizio; Corpino, Sabrina (30 April 2020). "In Orbit Operations of an Educational Cubesat: the e-st@r-II Experience". International Review of Aerospace Engineering (IREASE). 13 (2): 40–50. doi:10.15866/irease.v13i2.18317. ISSN 2533-2279. S2CID 225938670.

External links

• http://areeweb.polito.it/cubesat-team Archived 29 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/e-star.htm