Mid STAR-1 - Mission Architecture

Mission Architecture

The MidSTAR-1 mission includes a single spacecraft under the command and control of a single satellite ground station (SGS) located at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. The ground station forwards downlinked data files to the principal investigators via the Internet. The launch segment for MidSTAR-1 utilized an Atlas V launch vehicle through the Space Test Program, placing the satellite in a circular orbit at 496 km altitude, 46 degrees inclination.

The satellite uses an uplink at 1.767 GHz with an intermediate frequency (IF) of 435 MHz, and a 2.20226 GHz downlink. By utilizing a Gaussian Mean Shift Key modulation, communications with the satellite are achieved at 68.4 kbit/s or higher data rate. The satellite also uses open source software based on the Linux operating system. MidSTAR-1 has no attitude control or determination, no active thermal control, and its mass is 120 kg.

One hundred percent success would be the successful launch and operation of the satellite with full support for the two primary experiments for two years. Fifty percent success was the successful launch and operation of the satellite with: Full support of one primary experiment for two years; Full support of both primary experiments for one year; or, partial support of both primary experiments for two years. Thirty-three percent success was successful launch of the satellite and full operation of the satellite bus with partial support of any combination of primary and secondary payloads for any length of time.