Detailed Description
Launched January 27, 2000 from Vandenburg AFB in California. ASUSat-1 contained an amateur packet hardware system and a 2-meter/70-cm FM voice repeater.
Approximately 50 minutes after launch, ASUSat1 was heard when an amateur radio operator in South Africa heard two beacons on its frequency. This reception matched the expected transmission pattern of ASUSat1. The contact confirmed that ASUSat had been successfully deployed from the rocket and that the satellite was functioning on orbit.
The last report received from ASUSat 1 was by the SunSat Team at fourteen hours into the mission. This reception included a telemetry frame that confirmed that the satellite did indeed have a critical problem in the power system. Unfortunately, this problem prevented the solar arrays from supplying power. Predicted lifetime of the satellite on battery power alone was estimated to be fifteen hours.
ASUSat1 was a project of the Aerospace Research Center at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.
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