CUTE-1.7 + APD II

CUTE-1.7 + APD II, or CUTE-1.7 + APD 2, is a Japanese nanosatellite which was launched in 2008 as a follow-up to the CUTE-1.7 + APD satellite. It was built and is operated by the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

CUTE-1.7 + APD II

Names	CUTE-1.7 + APD 2
Mission type	Technology
Operator	Tokyo Institute of Technology
COSPAR ID	2008-021C
SATCAT no.	32785
Website	https://lss.mes.titech.ac.jp/ssp/cute1.7/index_e.html
Mission duration	Elasped: 17 years, 1 month and 20 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Tokyo Institute of Technology
Launch mass	3 kg (6.6 lb)
Dimensions	20 × 15 × 10 cm (7.9 × 5.9 × 3.9 in)
Start of mission
Launch date	28 April 2008, 03:53:51 UTC
Rocket	PSLV-CA (PSLV-C9)
Launch site	Satish Dhawan, FLP
Contractor	Indian Space Research Organisation
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit[1]
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Perigee altitude	606 km (377 mi)
Apogee altitude	626 km (389 mi)
Inclination	97.67°
Period	96.89 minutes

Spacecraft

CUTE-1.7 + APD II used a similar design to its predecessor, however it was stretched in height meaning that it no longer complied with the CubeSat form factor which the original satellite was based on. It has dimensions of 20 × 15 × 10 cm (7.9 × 5.9 × 3.9 in),^[2] compared to 20 × 10 × 10 cm (7.9 × 3.9 × 3.9 in) for CUTE-1.7 + APD, which was a standard two-unit CubeSat.^[3] The onboard computer is a personal digital assistant developed by Hitachi.

Mission

The University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies was contracted to launch CUTE-1.7 + APD II, subcontracting the launch to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as part of the Nanosatellite Launch Service 4 (NLS-4) mission along with CanX-2, AAUSAT-II, Compass-1, Delfi-C3 and SEEDS-2.^[4] ISRO used a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, flight number C9, to launch NLS-4 - with the rocket flying in the Core Alone, or PSLV-CA, configuration.^[5] The rocket's primary payload was Cartosat-2A, with IMS-1, Rubin-8 and the University of Toronto's NLS-5 mission - consisting of the CanX-6 satellite - also flying aboard the launch vehicle as secondary payloads.^[6]

Launch

The launch took place at 03:53:51 UTC on 28 April 2008, with the satellites being deployed from the launch vehicle shortly afterwards.^[7] As of 24 January 2015, CUTE-1.7 + APD II is in a 606 km (377 mi) of apogee and 626 km (389 mi) orbit inclined at inclination 97.67° to the equator.^[1] Although only designed for a two-month mission, it still remains operational and continues to transmit data to the ground station at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.^[8]