After the successful launch of the fourth Slovak GRBBeta satellite into Earth’s orbit, the scientific team made first contact with it on Tuesday (July 9) at 11:03 p.m. The message received meant that the launch of the Ariane 6 rocket from the spaceport in French Guiana went well. The head of the Department of Air Traffic Management of the Technical University in Košice (TUKE) Peter Hanák informed about it.
“From the moment the connection was established, the functionality of the satellite’s individual subsystems was checked, such as opening the antennas, checking the battery status and charging it, the temperatures of the satellite and solar panels were checked, the effectiveness of the camera cooler was checked, and so on. It was possible to turn on the GPS and the GRB detector,” explained Hanák. During the following flights, the verification of individual systems and the necessary measurements to verify the correct functioning of the satellite will continue. The science team will try to start measuring gamma-ray bursts and revive the satellite’s UV camera.
The project is implemented by the Aviation Faculty of TUKE together with international partners and with the financial support of the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic. The supplier of the satellite platform is the Slovak company Spacemanic.
GRBBeta is the direct successor of the GRBBalpha satellite. The main scientific experiment is a gamma-ray detector, the satellite will also provide services to radio amateurs. Its dimensions without developed antennas are 10 by 10 by 22.7 centimeters. It was launched into orbit on Tuesday along with other satellites by the new European launch vehicle Ariane 6.
Source: vat.pravda.sk
