DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXPERIMENTAL MICRO-SATELLITE

摘要

On 20 April 2011, the first Singapore experimental micro-satellite (called "XSAT") was piggyback launched with India PSLV-C16 rocket into a sun-synchronous orbit at altitude of about 820km. The launch was successful and the subsequent in-orbit-tests had been completed including the primary imaging operations with near real-time data down link to Singapore ground stations. The success of this project marked a historical event for Singapore to have an indigenously designed and developed micro-satellite launched into orbit for remote sensing applications. This paper describes the development of this 106.68kg micro-satellite using the three-model development philosophy. The various systems level environments tests conducted on the experimental micro-satellite would be briefly mentioned and that sample images were also included into the paper.