Satélite de Reentrada Atmosférica

SARA - Satélite de Reentrada Atmosférica is a Brazilian satellite project,^[1] with the objective of performing experiments in microgravity environment and returning them to the Earth.^[2]

SARA (Satélite de Reentrada Atmosférica)

Operator	Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço
Range	300 km (planned)
Apogee	350 km (planned)
Start of mission
Launch date	07:00, November 13, 2015 (2015-11-13T07:00:00)
Rocket	VS-40M
Launch site	Centro de Lançamento da Barreira do Inferno
End of mission
Destroyed	Launch failure

SARA Suborbital

Configuration

The "Sara suborbital" platform heights 350 kg and is divided into four subsystems:

• Structural
• Electrical - includes cold gas actuators, designed to null the satellite's angular velocity after launch
• Recovery - 3 parachutes: pilot, drogue and main
• Experiment module (MEXP)

Flights

SARA Suborbital 1 / Operação São Lourenço

The proposed flight schedule included a first sub-orbital test flight (SARA Suborbital 1) in 2014^[3][4] using a VS-40 rocket launched from the Centro de Lançamento da Barreira do Inferno (Operação São Lourenço).^[4] The predicted apogee was 350 km with a range of 300 km. Time spent in microgravity would be around 8 minutes, after which the satellite would reenter the atmosphere and be recovered at sea, 100 km out from Parnaíba.

On 13 November 2015 the launch was attempted, resulting in an explosion of the VS-40M V03 rocket on the pad.^[5]

SARA Suborbital 2

A second suborbital flight was planned (SARA Suborbital 2), to test flight attitude control system and de-orbit engine.

SARA Orbital

The orbital version of the satellite will operate in a circular 300 km low Earth orbit, during a maximum of 10 days.