COMPASS-1
| Compass-1 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Cubesat |
| Country: |
 Germany
|
| Operator: | FH Aachen , FB6 |
| Mission dates | |
| Dimensions: | 860 g |
| Size: | 10 x 10 x 10 cm³ |
| Begin: | April 28, 2008 |
| Starting place: | SHAR SLP |
| Launcher: | PSLV-G (3) C-9 |
| Flight duration: | 6 months |
| Status: | Out of service since March 2012 |
| Orbit data | |
| Track height: | 630 km |
| Orbit inclination : | 98 ° |
COMPASS-1 , also known as Compass One, is a small satellite in Cubesat format that students at the FH Aachen developed from 2003 to 2008.
Structure and Mission
COMPASS-1 weighs approximately one kilogram. Its gallium arsenide solar panels deliver an electrical output of two watts. The three-axis stabilization takes place via magnetic coils. The lifespan was calculated for six months. The payload consists of a GPS receiver and a CMOS camera . With a resolution of 640 × 480 pixels and an altitude of 630 km, the camera images an area of the earth of 416 × 380 km². COMPASS-1 was on April 28, 2008 at 03:53 UTC as piggy-back with an Indian PSLV - carrier rocket successfully fired into a sun-synchronous orbit.
The amateur radio callsign for COMPASS-1 is DP0COM. The ground station uses the callsign DL0FHA. A frequency of 437.275 MHz is used as the beacon downlink and 437.405 MHz for the data and telemetry downlink.
The follow-up project COMPASS-2 supported COMPASS-1 until the end.
At the beginning of March 2012 the COMPASS-1 battery voltage collapsed.