UniBRITE-1 is, along with
TUGSAT-1, one of the first two
Austrian
satellites to be launched. Along with TUGSAT, it operates as part of the
BRIght Target Explorer constellation of satellites. The two spacecraft were launched aboard the same rocket, an Indian
PSLV-CA
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites ...
, in February 2013. UniBRITE is an
optical astronomy
Visible-light astronomy encompasses a wide variety of observations via telescopes that are sensitive in the range of visible light (optical telescopes). Visible-light astronomy is part of optical astronomy, and differs from astronomies based on in ...
spacecraft operated by the
University of Vienna as part of the
BRIght Target Explorer programme.
Features
UniBRITE-1 was manufactured by th
Space Flight Laboratory (SFL)of the
University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
(UTIAS), based on the
Generic Nanosatellite Bus
Generic or generics may refer to:
In business
* Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark
* Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...
, and had a mass at launch of
(plus another 7 kg for the XPOD separation system). The satellite will be used, along with five other spacecraft, to conduct Photometry (astronomy), photometric observations of stars with apparent magnitude of greater than 4.0 as seen from Earth. UniBRITE-1 was one of the first two BRITE satellites to be launched, along with the Austrian
TUGSAT-1 spacecraft. Four more satellites, two Canadian and two Polish, were launched at later dates.
UniBRITE-1 will observe the stars in the red color range whereas
TUGSAT-1 will do it in blue. Due to the multicolour option, geometrical and thermal effects in the analysis of the observed phenomena are separated. The much larger satellites, such as MOST (satellite), MOST and CoRoT, both do not have this colour option. It will be extremely helpful in the diagnosis of the internal structure of stars. UniBRITE-1 will photometrically measure low-level oscillations and temperature variations in stars brighter than visual magnitude
(4.0), with unprecedented precision and temporal coverage not achievable through terrestrial based methods.
Launch
The UniBRITE-1 satellite along with
TUGSAT-1 and AAUSAT3 was launched through the University of Toronto's Nanosatellite Launch System programme, named NLS-8. The NLS-8 launch was subcontracted to the Indian Space Research Organisation which launched the satellites using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C20 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad, First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The NLS spacecraft were secondary payloads on the rocket, whose primary mission was to deploy the Indo-French SARAL ocean research satellite. Canada's Sapphire (satellite), Sapphire and NEOSSat-1 spacecraft, and the United Kingdom's STRaND-1, were also carried by the same rocket under separate launch contracts.
The launch took place at 12:31 UTC on 25 February 2013, and the rocket deployed all of its payloads successfully.
See also
*
TUGSAT-1
References
{{BRITE
Spacecraft launched in 2013
Satellites of Austria
Space telescopes
2013 in Austria
First artificial satellites of a country
Spacecraft launched by PSLV rockets