VesselSat-1

VesselSat-1 (Orbcomm FM42, V1) was a miniaturized satellite built and owned by LuxSpace, which was operated by Orbcomm under lease. VesselSat-1 and its sister satellite, VesselSat-2 were used by Orbcomm to compensate the functionality of the malfunctioning Orbcomm-QL satellites.

VesselSat-1

Mission type	Communications AIS tracking
Operator	LuxSpace Orbcomm (leased)
COSPAR ID	2011-058C
SATCAT no.	37840
Mission duration	3 years planned; 4 years achieved
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	LuxSpace
Launch mass	29 kilograms (64 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	October 12, 2011, 05:31 (2011-10-12UTC05:31Z) UTC[1]
Rocket	PSLV-CA
Launch site	Satish Dhawan FLP
Contractor	ISRO
End of mission
Last contact	End of 2015[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Sun-synchronous
Perigee altitude	853 kilometers (530 mi)
Apogee altitude	873 kilometers (542 mi)
Inclination	19.96 degrees
Period	102.07 minutes
Epoch	July 4, 2014, 06:26:37 UTC[3]

Launch

It was launched from the ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota in October 2011 atop a PSLV-CA rocket, flight C18. The launch was a multi-payload mission along with Megha-Tropiques, SRMSAT and Jugnu.

Spacecraft

Vesselsat was the first satellite to be built in Luxembourg. It had a mass of 29 kg (64 lb) and had the form of a cube 30 centimeters (0.98 ft) along each side. Its mission was the tracking of shipping by receiving broadcasts from their Automatic Identification System (AIS).

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• 2011 in spaceflight