BRITE
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BRITE-Constellation is an ongoing space mission carrying out two-band photometry in wide fields with a constellation of six (presently, three operational) BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) nanosatellites. The mission was built by a consortium of three countries, Canada, Austria, and Poland, each operating two BRITE satellites. The six satellites were launched into low-Earth orbits between February 2013 and August 2014. Each satellite is a cube-shaped spacecraft with sides of 20 centimetres (7.9 in) hosting an optical telescope of 3 centimetres (1.2 in) aperture feeding an uncooled CCD with a field of view of approximately 20° × 24°. The satellites were intended for photometry of the brightest stars in single passband located in the blue (three satellites) or red (the other three satellites) part of the optical range.
Country of origin | Canada Austria Poland |
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Applications | Astronomy |
Specifications | |
Bus | Generic Nanosatellite Bus |
Launch mass | 10 kilograms (22 lb) |
Dimensions | 20 centimetres (7.9 in) cube |
Regime | Low Earth |
Dimensions | |
Production | |
Status | Operational |
Built | 6 |
Launched | 6 |
Operational | 3 |
Retired | 2 |
Lost | 1 |