ISTSat-1

The ISTSat-1 is a Portuguese nanosatellite developed by students and researchers of the Instituto Superior Técnico (University of Lisbon), that was launched into orbit on 9 July 2024, aboard the Ariane 6 maiden flight.^[1][2][3] The project is part of the European Space Agency's "Fly Your Satellite!" programme.^[1] It is the third Portuguese satellite in space, after the PoSAT-1 and the AEROS MH-1, and the first to have been entirely designed and built in Portugal.^[4][5]

ISTSat-1

Rendering of ISTSat-1
Mission type	ADS-B
Operator	Instituto Superior Técnico
COSPAR ID	2024-128D
SATCAT no.	60238
Website	istsat-one.tecnico.ulisboa.pt
Mission duration	1 Year
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	CubeSat
Manufacturer	IST NanosatLab
Payload mass	1.095 kg (2.41 lb)
Dimensions	10 cm x 10 cm x 10.3 cm (1U)
Start of mission
Launch date	July 9, 2024, 19:00 (2024-07-09UTC19Z) UTC (21:00 CEST)
Rocket	Ariane 6
Launch site	Guiana Space Centre, ELA-4
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Periapsis altitude	575.6 km
Apoapsis altitude	590.3 km
Inclination	62.0 °
Period	96.2 minutes

The ISTSat-1 is a CubeSat developed to optimise and complement aircraft surveillance systems by demonstrating the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) aircraft detection technology in orbit.^[6] Its mission lifetime is expected to be 12 months.^[1]

See also

• Instituto Superior Técnico
• European Space Agency