TET-1 (, ''Technology Experiment Carrier'') was a

microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain Sequence motif, 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 organ ...

operated by the

German Space Operations Center The German Space Operations Center (GSOC; ) is the mission control center of German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, Germany. Tasks The GSOC performs the following tasks in national and international spaceflight: *O ...

of the

German Aerospace Center The German Aerospace Center (, abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany, founded in 1969. It is headquartered in Cologne with 3 ...

. It was the centre of the OOV (On Orbit Verification) Program, initiated to offer on-orbit verification possibilities to the German industrial and scientific aerospace community. TET was based on the

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are less customized than specially-produced satelli ...

used for the

BIRD Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

satellite, which was launched in 2001. The main contractor for Phase A (feasibility) was

IABG IABG (Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH) is a German analysis and test engineering company based in Taufkirchen near Munich. History The company was founded in 1961 on the initiative of the federal government as a central analysis and ...

. The final contract for Phases B, C, and D (definition/qualification, and production) and start was given to Kayser-Threde GmbH, a medium-sized aerospace company based in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

belonging to the German

OHB-System OHB SE, headquartered in Bremen, is a European space and technology group specializing in the development and implementation of complete space systems, the production of components for various launcher programs as well as the operation of satell ...

group. The environmental qualification was successfully conducted in the IABG space simulation centre in Munich. TET-1 was carried to orbit as a secondary payload on a

Soyuz-FG The Soyuz-FG was an improved variant of the Soyuz-U launch vehicle from the R-7 (rocket family), R-7 rocket family, developed by the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, Russia. It featured upgraded first and second stage engines, RD-107A and ...

Fregat Fregat () is an upper stage developed by NPO Lavochkin for universal compatibility with a wide range of medium- and heavy-lift launch vehicles. Fregat has been used primarily with Soyuz and Zenit rockets, and entered operational service in ...

carrier rocket which was launched from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

on 22 July 2012. The primary payload of the launch was the Kanopus-V1 satellite, with the BelKA-2, Zond-PP and exactView-1 satellites also flying on the same rocket. After 10 years in orbit, the TET-1 satellite re-entered into the atmosphere on 18 November 2022.

References

External links

TET-1 information on DLR website

TET-1 information on eoPortal website

Kayser-Threde GmbH TET-1 logbook

Brochure "TET - The Small Satellite"
on OHB website {{Orbital launches in 2012 Spacecraft launched in 2012 Spacecraft which reentered in 2022 Satellites of Germany Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-FG rockets