MaSat-1 (from the words ''Magyar'' and ''Satellite'', the first meaning " Hungarian" in Hungarian, ''maszat'', pronounced IPA �mɒsɒt meaning "smudge") is the first indigenous Hungarian

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

, developed and built by students at the

Technical University of Budapest Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data * Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...

. The 1U

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...

-type satellite was launched into

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...

on 13 February 2012. The satellite provided telemetric data as well as VGA resolution color images at the 70 cm amateur radio wavelength (437.345 MHz frequency) received at the tracking center at

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. The center was tested on 31 March 2009 with the help of

Charles Simonyi Charles Simonyi (; hu, Simonyi Károly, ; born September 10, 1948) is a Hungarian-American software architect. He started and led Microsoft's applications group, where he built the first versions of Microsoft Office. He co-founded and led Int ...

on board the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

. With the successful launch of MaSat-1, Hungary became the 47th nation to orbit a satellite. Between 9 and 10 January 2015, the satellite reentered into the atmosphere.

Operations

Weeks following its launch, after the first high-quality images were available was it revealed to the public that a camera was on board.

Technical specifications

* Satellite class: 1U CubeSat * Dimensions: 10 cm × 10 cm ×10 cm * Mass: 1 kg * Propulsion: no * Expected life: minimum 3 months * Input power: 1.2 – 2.2 W * Communication type:

Half-duplex A duplex communication system is a point-to-point system composed of two or more connected parties or devices that can communicate with one another in both directions. Duplex systems are employed in many communications networks, either to allow ...

* Frequency: 437,345

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

* Data rate: 625 or 1250 bps * Modulation: 2-G FSK * Transmission power: 100/400 mW * Telemetry protocol: modified ESA PUS v1 * Callsign: HA5MASAT * Digital camera: VGA sensor, 640×480 pixels Source: http://www.urvilag.hu/article.php?id=2984 (Hungarian)

References

Student satellites Space program of Hungary Satellites of Hungary CubeSats First artificial satellites of a country Spacecraft launched in 2012 2012 in Hungary Spacecraft launched by Vega rockets {{spacecraft-stub

Operations

Technical specifications

See also

References