Pehuensat-1

Pehuensat-1 is a satellite built entirely in Argentina with educational objectives. It was launched on January 10, 2007 aboard a rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on the east coast of India. The assembly took five years and was carried out by teachers and students of the National University of Comahue.[1][2]

Pehuensat-1
Mission typeAmateur Radio
OperatorUniversidad Nacional del Comahue , Asociación Argentina de Tecnología Espacial, AMSAT Argentina
COSPAR ID2007-001D
SATCAT no.29712Edit this on Wikidata
Websitehttps://investigadores.uncoma.edu.ar/AplicacionesEspaciales/pehuen.htm
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass6 kg
Start of mission
Launch dateJanuary 10, 10:00 (2023-01-10UTC10) UTC
Launch siteSatish Dhawan PSLV C7
End of mission
Decay date16 January 2023
Orbital parameters
RegimeLEO
Periapsis altitude596 km
Apoapsis altitude615 km
Period96.7 min
 

It was named Pehuensat-1 in reference to the pehuén, an ancient and native tree of the Andean Patagonian forests identified with the provinces in which the university has its academic headquarters.[3]

Details

It was built by 17 teachers and 44 students from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Comahue (Neuquén). In October 2006, the satellite was taken to the launch center in Shriharikota (India), by the Argentine space researcher Pablo de León, who became known months ago when he presented a prototype of a space suit designed for trips to Mars.[4]

It was launched at 9:23 a.m. Indian time (1:53 a.m. Argentine time) on the Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV C7 rocket.[5]

After 20 minutes of travel, Pehuensat-1 reached its orbit, where it will remain -according to the technicians- for "several years".[6][7]

The satellite weighs 6 kilograms, travels its orb LM Neuquen at an altitude of about 640 kilometers and orbits the Earth at a speed of 27,000 kilometres per hour (17,000 mph) (about 7.5 km/s (4.7 mi/s). It has a space-type aluminum case structure and solar panels on one of the faces. The electronics are made up of a transmitter, a computer and two battery packs that are recharged with solar energy. In addition, an antenna in charge of transmitting the satellite parameters to the ground.[8]

Pehuensat-1 can withstand temperatures in space of −120 °C (−184 °F) (every time it passes through the Earth's shadow) and up to 100 °C (212 °F) (facing the Sun). It will be useful to high schools and universities around the world, because it transmits its data in multiple languages to amateur radio receivers. When flying over an area, The satellite only needs to tune to the 145.825 MHz frequency in the 2-meter band in FM mode. The Pehuensat-1 satellite transmits its data in Spanish, English and Hindi.[9]

References
  1. "Lanzan un satélite construido en la Argentina". conicet.gov.ar. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-10.
  2. "PehuenSat 1 (PO 63, PehuenSat-OSCAR 63)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  3. UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL COMAHUE, AMSAT Argentina. "PehuenSat" (in Spanish).
  4. "Lanzaron un satélite construido en la UNCO". 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-06-10.
  5. Indian Space Research Organization (2022). "PSLV-C7 / CARTOSAT-2 / SRE-1". Indian Space Research Organization. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  6. AMSAT Argentina (2007). "PEHUENSAT-1".
  7. Redacción (2007). "El primer satélite hecho en la UNC, rumbo al espacio". Diario Río Negro (in Spanish).
  8. Asociación Argentina de Tecnología Espacial (2007). "El Pehuensat-1 concluye exitosamente su mision". Asociación Argentina de Tecnología Espacial.
  9. Calducci, Ana Laura (2021). "El primer satélite que habló en español se hizo en Neuquén". LM Neuquen (in Spanish).
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