Aalto-1 was a Finnish research

nanosatellite A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites c ...

, created by students of

Aalto University Aalto University (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the Helsinki School of Economic ...

. Based on the

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...

architecture, it was originally scheduled to be launched in 2013, it was launched on 23 June 2017. It was Finland's first student satellite project and indigenously produced satellite (it was the first Finnish satellite that started development but not the first launched as the second satellite in the Aalto-series, Aalto-2, launched before Aalto-1). As of 2021, the satellite was operational. The satellite's mission ended as it re-entered the atmosphere on 1 September 2024.

Project history

The Aalto-1 project began in 2010 with a feasibility study, which was conducted as part of a university course on

space technology Space technology is technology for use in outer space. Space technology includes space vehicles such as spacecraft, satellites, space stations and orbital spaceflight, orbital launch vehicles; :Spacecraft communication, deep-space communication; :S ...

. The study was followed by the publication of a preliminary design in 2011. A

critical design review In the United States military integrated acquisition lifecycle the technical section has multiple acquisition technical reviews. Technical reviews and audits assist the acquisition and the number and types are tailored to the acquisition. Overall ...

(CDR) of the satellite was conducted in 2012. In all, over 80 students of Aalto University's School of Electrical Engineering were involved in the project.

Design

The

solar-powered Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to conve ...

– based satellite weighed approximately , and had 3 main payloads: a miniature Fabry-Pérot

spectrometer A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure Spectrum, spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomeno ...

, designed by VTT Technical Research Centre, a RADMON-radiation detector developed by

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

and

University of Turku The University of Turku (, shortened ''UTU'') is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo ...

for the study of solar wind conditions in the Earth orbit (and to study the radiation environment in general), and an electric sail (dubbed a "brake tether"), which was designed for an

atmospheric entry Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. Atmospheric entry may be ''uncontrolled entr ...

at the end of its 2-year operational lifespan, with the intent of avoiding the creation of space junk.

Launch

Originally the satellite was to be launched by a

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured in the United States by SpaceX. The first Falcon 9 launch was on June 4, 2010, an ...

launch vehicle, but the launcher suffered multiple delays due to the accidents that plagued the Falcon 9 in 2015 and 2016. The launch was removed from the Falcon 9, and Aalto-1 was launched on 23 June 2017 by

PSLV-C38 PSLV-C38 was the 40th mission of the Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) program and its 17th mission in the XL configuration. PSLV-C38 successfully carried and deployed 31 satellites in Sun-synchronous orbit. It was launched on 23 June ...

launch vehicle from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Successor satellites

The next satellite in the Aalto-series, Aalto-2 (SATCAT: 42729, COSPAR: 1998-067MJ), was launched to ISS on 18 April 2017 (before Aalto-1) and released to orbit on 25 May 2017 (before Aalto-1) and decayed from orbit on 6 February 2019. Another Finnish satellite with roots in the Aalto-series of satellites was the Reaktor Hello World satellite. The Aalto University team behind Aalto-1 and Aalto-2 also worked on the Reaktor Hello World. The Aalto-1 and Aalto-2 satellites paved the way for the Suomi 100 (literally "Finland 100"; COSPAR:2018-099AY, SATCAT:43804) satellite, which was developed by Aalto University and other Finnish institutions for the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Finland in 2017. The satellite was built during 2017 and it was launched 3 December 2018. An approximate copy of Suomi 100 satellite was built in September-October 2017 in a lorry that toured Finland. This lorry, named Avaruusrekka (literally "Space Lorry") toured cities of Finland, stopping in each city. At every stop, the copy satellite was built one step forward, with the copy satellite getting completed at the end of the tour. The copy satellite was sent to the stratosphere via a stratospheric gas balloon (so the copy satellite was not a real satellite and it never went to space) from

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

, from outside the

WeeGee Ascher (Usher) Fellig (June 12, 1899 – December 26, 1968), known by his pseudonym Weegee, was a photographer and photojournalist, known for his stark black and white street photography in New York City. Weegee worked in Manhattan's Lower Eas ...

centre in November 2017. A third Aalto-satellite, Aalto-3 has been under development by Aalto University but as of November 2024 it has not been launched.

References

External links

Official website
(in Finnish and English)
Launch website
(in Finnish and English) {{Orbital launches in 2017 CubeSats Space program of Finland Spacecraft launched in 2017 Aalto University 2017 in Finland