ALMASat-1 (ALma MAter SATellite) was a micro satellite developed by

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in contin ...

for demonstrative purposes to benefit Earth observation missions. The project was funded by Italian Ministry of Research.

About the satellite

The satellite was made from high quality aluminium and reinforced with eight stainless steel plates. Solar cells were mounted on four sides of satellite for providing the power required for satellite operation.

Mission

The work on development of ALMASat was started in 2003. It was expected to be launched into orbit on a Dnepr rocket. Later it was launched by

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, a ...

launch vehicle with other satellites on board. The ALMASat-1 was a microsatellite having a cuboidal structure, meant for a demo purpose, it accommodated payloads of different sizes and power requirements. The main purpose of ALMASat-1 was to test the 3-axis pointing accuracy for the future satellite launches.ALMASAT statistics
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Launch

ALMASAT-1 was launched by

launch system on February 13, 2012, from

Kourou Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label= French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas ...

Re-entry

ALMASAT-1 decayed from orbit 25 April 2020.

References

External links

ALma MAter SATellite Official Site

{{Orbital launches in 2012 Student satellites Satellites of Italy University of Bologna Spacecraft launched in 2012 2012 in Italy Spacecraft launched by Vega rockets