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''Mazaalai'' ( mn, Мазаалай; ) was a Mongolian
nanosatellite A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ca ...
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 ...
that was launched into space on 3 June 2017 as part of the
SpaceX CRS-11 SpaceX CRS-11, also known as SpX-11, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station, launched successfully on 3 June 2017. The mission was contracted by NASA and was flown by SpaceX. The mission utilized a Falcon ...
mission. Released into space from the
Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer The Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) is a device to deploy CubeSats into orbit from the International Space Station (ISS). In 2014, two CubeSat deployers were on board the International Space Station (ISS): the Japanese Experiment Module ...
on the Kibō module of 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 ( ...
on 7 July 2017, ''Mazaalai'' was the first
Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
n satellite in space. It had imaging capabilities and could transmit songs back to Earth, but its primary mission involved performing experiments including
GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
location, air density measurement, and investigation of cosmic radiation. The mission ended when the satellite deorbited 11 May 2019.


Background

''Mazaalai'' was part of the Birds-1 constellation of satellites, built through the Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite at Japan's
Kyushu Institute of Technology is one of the 87 national universities in Japan. Located in Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, it is dedicated to education and research in the fields of science and technology. It is earlier abbreviated to KIT and is now officially ab ...
(KIT), a program intended to help universities in non-spacefaring countries get satellites into space. The Birds-1 constellation also included satellites from Japan,
Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
,
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, and
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
. Over a two-year period, three university students from each of the five participating countries learned skills to build, develop, launch and operate the satellites. All five satellites were identical to each other. The satellites from Ghana (''
GhanaSat-1 GhanaSat-1 was the first Ghanaian nanosatellite to be launched into space. It was designed and built in two years in conjunction with the Kyushu Institute of Technology Birds-1 program, which has the goal of helping countries build their first ...
'') and Bangladesh ('' BRAC Onnesha'') were the first satellites in space for those countries. '' MongolSat-1'', which was launched in early 2017, is sometimes reported as Mongolia's first satellite, but that satellite was in fact launched by a
Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...
-based company, ABS. It was manufactured by the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
company
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...
and was co-branded as ''MongolSat-1'' after launch.


Design

''Mazaalai'' was named after the endangered
Gobi bear The Gobi bear (''Ursus arctos gobiensis''), known in Mongolian as the ''Mazaalai'' (), is a subspecies of the brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') that is found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol ...
, native to Mongolia. It was designed and built by three young researchers of the
National University of Mongolia The National University of Mongolia ( mn, Монгол Улсын Их Сургууль, ''Mongol Ulsyn Ikh Surguuli'', abbreviated ''NUM'' or ''MUIS'') is a public university primarily located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Established in 1942, it is ...
, in collaboration with students from Ghana, Japan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. The spacecraft was a CubeSat 1U with a mass of approximately . It was equipped with 0.3
megapixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...
and 5 megapixel cameras, capable of taking images with resolution, and had sensors capable of measuring air density and
space radiation Health threats from cosmic rays are the dangers posed by cosmic rays to astronauts on interplanetary missions or any missions that venture through the Van-Allen Belts or outside the Earth's magnetosphere. They are one of the greatest barriers ...
. The satellite could also transmit songs and data at 437
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 ...
to Earth that had been uploaded to the satellite.


Mission


Launch

''Mazaalai'' was sent to 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 ( ...
on 3 June 2017 as part of the
SpaceX CRS-11 SpaceX CRS-11, also known as SpX-11, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station, launched successfully on 3 June 2017. The mission was contracted by NASA and was flown by SpaceX. The mission utilized a Falcon ...
mission. The satellite was carried in a
Dragon spacecraft American private space transportation company SpaceX has developed and produced several spacecraft named Dragon. The first family member, now referred to as Dragon 1, flew 23 cargo missions to the ISS between 2010 and 2020 before being retired ...
on a
Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and pay ...
rocket, launched from NASA's
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
,
LC-39A Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is the first of Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39B, were first designed for the Saturn V launch vehicle. T ...
. This was the 100th launch from LC-39A and the first time SpaceX reused one of its Dragon capsules. The satellite was released into orbit from the Japanese Kibō module of the ISS on 7 July 2017. The satellite orbited the Earth at an altitude of approximately and at an inclination of 51.64°, completing an orbit every 92.57 minutes at a velocity of .


Operations

The satellite performed experiments including
GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
location, air density measurements, and investigating cosmic radiation. The satellite transmitted the national anthem of Mongolia to Earth. The main purpose of the project for Mongolia was to develop more accurate maps, help mitigate natural disasters, and conduct independent space studies. The project was supported by Mongolian Emergency Organization of Government and
National University of Mongolia The National University of Mongolia ( mn, Монгол Улсын Их Сургууль, ''Mongol Ulsyn Ikh Surguuli'', abbreviated ''NUM'' or ''MUIS'') is a public university primarily located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Established in 1942, it is ...
as part of the Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite project of
Kyushu Institute of Technology is one of the 87 national universities in Japan. Located in Fukuoka Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, it is dedicated to education and research in the fields of science and technology. It is earlier abbreviated to KIT and is now officially ab ...
(KIT), an international interdisciplinary project for non-space faring countries supported by Japan. The satellite communicated with seven ground stations: one in each of the countries participating in the Birds-1 program, and one each in
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
and
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. The satellite deorbited on 11 May 2019.


Future work

A second satellite launch in 2018 was planned by the ''Mazaalai'' team members. Japan's work with non-spacefaring countries continues with the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
,
Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
, and
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
through
Birds-2 Birds-2 is the second iteration of a multinational program called the Joint Global Multi-Nations Birds Satellite project, or Birds project, to help countries build their first satellite. The Japanese Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT) suppo ...
, launched on 29 June 2018 along with
SpaceX CRS-15 SpaceX CRS-15, also known as SpX-15, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station launched 29 June 2018 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The mission was contracted by NASA and flown by SpaceX. Launch In early 2015, ...
.


References


External links


Official Birds website
{{Orbital launches in 2017 2017 in Mongolia Satellites orbiting Earth CubeSats First artificial satellites of a country Science and technology in Mongolia National University of Mongolia Spacecraft launched in 2017 Student satellites Satellites deployed from the International Space Station Spacecraft which reentered in 2019