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SAPPHIRE
U.S. amateur radio satellite / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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SAPPHIRE (Stanford AudioPhonic PHotographic IR Experiment, also called Navy-OSCAR 45) was a satellite built by the Stanford University students in Palo Alto, California.[1]
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Quick Facts Mission type, Operator ...
![]() SAPPHIRE satellite | |
Mission type | Communications |
---|---|
Operator | USNA / University of Santa Clara |
COSPAR ID | 2001-043D[1] |
SATCAT no. | 26932 |
Mission duration | 2 years and 6 months |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Stanford University |
Launch mass | 16 kg (35 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 30 September 2001, 02:40 UTC |
Rocket | Athena 1 LM-001 |
Launch site | Kodiak LP-1 |
Contractor | Lockheed Martin |
End of mission | |
Disposal | Decommissioned |
Last contact | 2005 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Eccentricity | 0.0[1] |
Altitude | 794 km (493 mi)[1] |
Inclination | 67°[1] |
Period | 101 minutes[1] |
Epoch | 30 Sep 2001[1] |
OSCAR 46 → |
Close
The satellite was launched on September 30, 2001 together with Starshine 3, PICOSat and PCSat on an Athena 1 rocket at the Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska, United States.
Its purpose was the training of students, the operation of an infrared sensor, a digital camera, a speech synthesizer and from 2002 the operation of an APRS digipeater.[2] He also served to train midshipmen of the US Naval Academy in the field of satellite control.
The satellite's mission ended in early 2005.