EduSAT is an Italian

microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organism's genome. ...

which was launched in August 2011. The satellite was built and is operated by the Sapienza University of Rome in conjunction with the Italian Space Agency ASI, and is primarily used for educational outreach and technology demonstration. EduSAT is a satellite, measuring . The spacecraft is powered by surface-mounted solar cells. It carries an experimental analogue sun sensor, a magnetometer and a temperature sensor. The satellite also tested a prototype PocketQube deployer and a passive deorbit mechanism. As of September 2013 it remained operational. EduSAT was launched aboard a Dnepr carrier rocket from Site 370/13 at the Dombarovsky launch site in Russia. The launch was conducted by Kosmotras with liftoff occurring at 07:12:20 on 17 August 2011. The rocket carried six other satellites, with an additional payload bolted to the upper stage. The satellite was placed into a sun-synchronous

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never m ...

. As of 22 November 2013 it was in an orbit with a perigee of , an apogee of , 98.20 degrees inclination and a period of 98.04 minutes.

References

Spacecraft launched in 2011 Student satellites Satellites of Italy Sapienza University of Rome Spacecraft launched by Dnepr rockets {{Italy-spacecraft-stub