Detailed Description
The University of Huntsville, Alabama, in conjunction with Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) USA, designed and constructed SEDSAT-1.
SEDSAT-1, signifying Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Satellite number one, was developed at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The SEDSAT-1 project grew from two students and their mentors to an international project funded by NASA, DARPA, and major corporations. SEDSAT-1 was launched on a Delta II from Vandenberg AFB on 24 October 1998 as a secondary payload on the JPL DS-1 mission.
On-orbit, SEDSAT-1 was be a unique resource for education and research. In its orbital configuration the satellite:
- Provided multi-spectral remote sensing to the broadest possible community. The cameras collected in narrow wave bands chosen to coordinate with ground based observations across the U.S. Unlike other remote sensing systems, the data was broadly accessible because it was entirely in the public domain, and because its communication system was integrated into the World-Wide-Web.
- Served as a development platform for advanced microsatellite position determination and control algorithms. The satellite demonstrated a unique attitude determination system and new technology in active microsatellite control.
- Provided the amateur radio community with digital packet store-and-forward and analog repeater systems
- Generated new data on the space performance of NiMh batteries and advanced electronic components.
- Provided additional opportunities for space studies because of its extensive reprogrammability, on board GPS, and other flexible instruments.
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