PROBA2

Proba-2
Mission type Technology
Space weather
Operator European Space Agency[1]
COSPAR ID 2009-059B
SATCAT № 36037
Mission duration 2 years (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Bus PROBA
Manufacturer Verhaert Design & Development
Launch mass 120 kilograms (260 lb)
Dimensions 0.60m x 0.70m x 0.85m
Power 120 watts
Start of mission
Launch date 2 November 2009, 01:20:00 (2009-11-02UTC01:20Z) UTC
Rocket Rokot/Briz-KM
Launch site Plesetsk 133/3
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Sun-synchronous
Perigee 713 kilometres (443 mi)[2]
Apogee 733 kilometres (455 mi)[2]
Inclination 98.28 degrees[2]
Period 99.12 minutes[2]
Epoch 24 January 2015, 13:01:08 UTC[2]

PROBA2 is the second satellite in the European Space Agency's series of PROBA low-cost satellites that are being used to validate new spacecraft technologies while also carrying scientific instruments.[3] PROBA2 is a small satellite (130 kg) developed under an ESA General Support Technology Program (GSTP) contract by a Belgian consortium led by Verhaert (Kruibeke, Belgium). The nominal mission duration was two years.[1] The mission's most recent extension runs to 31 December 2016.[4]

It was launched on November 2, 2009, with the Rockot launch system together with ESA's SMOS mission.[5] The platform was launched in a sun-synchronous low Earth orbit (altitude of 725 km).[1]

PROBA2 contains five scientific instruments. Two of them are designated to observe the Sun: "The Sun Watcher using APS and Image Processing" (SWAP, an EUV imager) and the "Large Yield Radiometer" (LYRA), a radiometer made of diamond photodiodes. The Principal investigator teams of both instruments are hosted at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. This institute will also host the PROBA2 Science Center from which the SWAP and LYRA instruments will be operated and their data distributed. There are three other instruments to measure basic space plasma properties: the Dual segmented Langmuir probe (DSLP)[1] (developed by the Astronomical Institute and Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic), the Thermal Plasma Measurement Unit (TPMU), and the Science Grade Vector Magnetometer (SGVM) developed by the Technical University of Denmark.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "PROBA-2 (Project for On-Board Autonomy-2)". ESA. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "PROBA 2 Satellite details 2009-059B NORAD 36037". N2YO. 24 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "About PROBA-2". ESA. 2012-12-02. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  4. ↑ "Working life extensions for ESA's science missions". ESA Science & Technology. ESA. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "Successful launch qualification test for Proba-2". ESA. 2008-09-16. Retrieved 2013-04-15.


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