FalconSAT

FalconSAT is the name of the United States Air Force Academy's small satellite engineering program. Satellites are designed, built, tested, and operated by Academy cadets. The project is administered by the USAFA Space Systems Research Center under the direction of the Department of Astronautics. Most of the cadets who work on the project are pursuing a bachelor of science degree in astronautical engineering, although students from other disciplines (typically electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or computer science) join the project.

Compared to most commercial satellite projects, FalconSat is considerably lower budget, and follows a very accelerated development cycle. Because of the near total personnel turnover every year (the program is generally a senior cadet project, and graduating cadets must be replaced yearly) it forces the cadet engineers to very quickly learn and become familiar with the satellite systems to which they are assigned.

FalconSAT has a sister project, FalconLaunch, to design and develop sounding rocket class vehicles.

atellites

*FalconGOLD - launched in 1997 on an Atlas rocket. Tested and proved the feasibility of using GPS to determine orbit position when outside the extent of the GPS constellation.
*FalconSAT-1 - launched in January 2000 on a converted Minuteman II missile. It carried the CHAWS (Charging Hazards and Wake Studies) experiment developed by the Physics Department at the Academy. The satellite was successfully placed into orbit but was lost about a month later due to its power system not properly charging its batteries. [http://www.usafa.af.mil/superintendent/pa/factsheets/spaceage.htm] International Designator: [http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=2000-004D 2000-004D]
*FalconSAT-2 - Significantly damaged when Falcon 1 launch vehicle failed seconds after launch. Despite the loss of the launch vehicle, the satellite landed, mostly intact in a support building for the launch vehicle. It was originally scheduled for launch on STS-114 with the Space Shuttle Atlantis in January 2003. Its payload was the MESA instrument (Miniaturized electrostatic Analyzer), which would have been used to sample plasma in the upper atmosphere. The data would have been used to correlate the effect of ionospheric plasma on trans-ionospheric radio communications.
*FalconSAT-3 - contains 5 experiments, including a gravity gradient boom, launch adapter shock ring, and several DARPA sponsored payloads, including MPACS (Micro Propulsion Attitude Control System), FLAPS (Flat Plasma Spectrometer), and PLANE (Plasma Local Anomalous Noise Experiment). The launch, aboard an Atlas V 401 from LC-41 at Cape Canaveral, was scheduled to occur on December 8 2006, however as this was on the same day as the scheduled launch of STS-116, and a 48-hour turnaround was required, it was delayed. Launch took place on 8 March 2007 alongside MidSTAR-1. When the scientific mission of the program is completed, the satellite will be placed into amateur repeater mode and opened to use by amateur radio operators.
*FalconSAT-4 and -5 - are currently in the early design stages.

External links

* [http://www.usafa.af.mil/df/dfas/Research/research.cfm Program summary and FalconSAT-2 launch video]
* [http://www.af.mil/mediacenter/transcripts/story.asp?id=123013064 FalconSAT-2 press release]
* [http://directory.eoportal.org/pres_FalconSat3.html FalconSAT-3 on eoPortal]