Tubsat
Program: Tubsat. Objective: Technology. Type: Comsat. Overview: Small experimental store and forward communications satellite series.
Major Events:

  • 1991 July 17 - Tubsat-A.  Spacecraft: Tubsat. Mass: 38 kg (83 lb). Launch Site: Kourou. Launch Vehicle: Ariane 4.

    Tubsat-A was the first satellite built at Germany's Technical University of Berlin was intended primarily to test attitude control subsystems and give students practice in the design, construction and operation of a satellite. Tubsat-A was launched piggyback with the first ERS mission, and because of it's near polar orbit, the spacecraft became an important communications tool for arctic and Antarctic expeditions. The spacecraft also acted as a testbed for some industry technology including GaAs cells and a transputer. Payload: Star Sensor, Sun Sensor, 3-Axis Magnetic Field Sensor, Magnetorquer, Store & Forward Communication. Dimensions: 38x38x38 cm. Mass: 35 kg. Still in operation as of 2003.

  • 1994 January 25 - Tubsat-B.  Spacecraft: Tubsat. Mass: 40 kg (88 lb). Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Vehicle: Tsyklon 3.

    Following the success of the magnetic torque attitude control system that flew on Tubsat-A, researchers and students at Germany's Technical University of Berlin constructed Tubsat-B to test and demonstrate attitude control with a star sensor and three reaction wheels. An on-board 1m telescope was used for astronomy and for Earth observation at 10m resolution. Dimensions of the satellite were 38x38x50 cm, mass 40 kg. Unfortunately communications with the satellite were lost after 39 Days

  • 1998 July 7 - Tubsat-N1.  Spacecraft: Tubsat. Mass: 3.00 kg (6.60 lb). Launch Site: Barents Sea. Launch Vehicle: R-29.

    The dual Tubsat-N/Tubsat-N1 repersented the Technical University of Berlin's first Nanosatellite project. Tubsat-N1 measured 32x32x3.4cm and had a mass of 3 kg. The technology demonstrator satellite provided store and forward communications and conducted attitude control experiments.

  • 1998 July 7 - Tubsat-N.  Spacecraft: Tubsat. Mass: 8.00 kg (17.60 lb). Launch Site: Barents Sea. Launch Vehicle: R-29.

    The first satellite launch from a submarine. The Shtil-1 launch vehicle was a converted Makeyev R-29RM SLBM. The satellite payload was placed in the standard re-entry vehicle. The launch platform was the K-407 Novomoskovsk, a 667BDRM Delfin class submarine of the Russian Northern Fleet 3rd Flotilla. The launch was made from a firing range in the Barents Sea off the coast of the Kolskiy Peninsula, at 35.3 deg E 69.3 deg N. The payloads were the Tubsat-N and Tubsat-N1 `nanosatellites'. Tubsat-N entered a 400 x 776 km x 78.9 deg orbit. Both carried small store-forward communications payloads used to keep track of transmitters placed on vehicles, migrating animals, and marine buoys. They are owned, operated and built by the Technische Universitat Berlin (TUB). Tubsat-N was the larger of the pair, with dimensions of 32x32x10.4 cm and a mass of 8.5 kg.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Contact us with any corrections, additions, or comments.
Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site..
To contact astronauts or cosmonauts.

© Mark Wade, 1997 - 2007 except where otherwise noted.

 
Encyclopedia Astronautica
topic index
0 - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - Ra - Re - Sa - Sf - Sp - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z