The SACI-2 was a Brazilian experimental

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 radioiso ...

, designed and built by the Brazilian Institute for Space Research (INPE). It was launched on 11 December 1999 from the INPE base in Alcântara, Maranhão, by the Brazilian

VLS-1 V02 VLS-1 V02 was the second flight of the VLS-1 rocket on December 11, 1999 from the Alcântara Launch Center, with the objective of placing the SACI-2 microsatellite in Earth orbit. The rocket was remotely destroyed 3 minutes after launch. Origin ...

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...

. Due to failure of its second stage, the rocket veered off course and had to be destroyed 3 minutes and 20 seconds after launch. The name was officially an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

of ''Satélite de Aplicações CIentíficas'' ("Scientific Applications Satellite"), but was obviously taken from the

Saci ''Sac''I is a restriction enzyme isolated from the bacterium ''Streptomyces achromogenes ''Streptomyces achromogenes'' is a species of gram-positive bacterium that belongs in the genus ''Streptomyces''. ''S. achromogenes'' can be grown at 28&nbs ...

character of Brazilian folklore.

Specifications

The satellite weighted approximately 80 kg. It was a box approximately 60 cm long and 40 cm square, with a circular base plate and surrounded by a metal ring, both about 80 cm in diameter. Besides being a technology testbed, it carried four scientific payloads (PLASMEX, MAGNEX, OCRAS and PHOTO), with a total weight of 10 kg, to investigate plasma bubbles in the geomagnetic field, air glow, and anomalous cosmic radiation fluxes. It was meant to circle the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

on a circular

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as ...

at 750 km altitude, inclined 17.5 ° from the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...

Energy supply

Solar cells A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

Gallium Arsenide Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a III-V direct band gap semiconductor with a zinc blende crystal structure. Gallium arsenide is used in the manufacture of devices such as microwave frequency integrated circuits, monolithic microwave integrated c ...

(AsGa) * Dimensions: 3 panels of 57 cm x 44 cm * Efficiency: 19% * Power output: 150 W * Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) Battery Cells * Voltage: 1.4 V * Capacity: 4.5 Ah * Remote control rate: 19.2 kbit/s * Transmission rate: 500 kbit/s * Antennas of edge: 2 of transmission and 2 of reception, type Microstrip * Operating frequency telemetry/remote control: 2,250 GHz / 2,028 GHz * Receiving antenna in soil: 3.4 m in diameter The spin-stabilized spacecraft carried two

S-band The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave radio band, band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequency, frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it c ...

communication links (a 2W, 256 kb/ s downlink and 19.2 kbit/s uplink), and a 48 MB solid state

data recorder A data logger (also datalogger or data recorder) is an electronic device that records data over time or about location either with a built-in instrument or sensor or via external instruments and sensors. Increasingly, but not entirely, they ar ...

. It is variously reported to have cost between US$ 800,000 and US$1.7 million.

References

External links

SACI-2
in Gunter's Space Page. Spacecraft launched in 1999 Satellite launch failures {{Brazil-spacecraft-stub

Specifications

Energy supply

See also

References

External links