SACI 1

Brazil

Spacecraft n°:

Brazilian spacecraft n°: 11

SACI= Satélite Cientifico 1

Launch data:

Designation	25941 / 99057B
Launch date	14 Oct 1999
Launch site	Taiyuan
Launch vehicle	CZ-4B (#56)
Mission	Scientific: magnetosphere study
Sun-synchronous Earth orbit:
Perigee/Apogee	750 km sun-synchronous
Inclination
Period

Contact lost after one week

Specifications

Prime contractor	INPE
Platform
Operator	INPE
Mass at launch	60 kg
Payload mass	28 kg
Basic shape	box with 4 panels
Dimension	65 x 40 x 40 cm
Solar array
Stabilization	spin stabilzed (6 rpm)
DC power	> 30 W (eclipse: 2 x 22 NiCd battery cells providing 4.5 Ah)
Design lifetime	18 months

S-band downlink (256 kbps, 2025-2120 MHz) & uplink (19.2 kbps, 2200-2300 MHz). 2 W RF power

Payload:

Plasmex: study of plasma bubbles and geomagnetic experiments
The main objective of this experiment in the ionosphere is to investigate the generation, development and decay of the plasma bubbles, particularly in the Brazilian region. This investigation intends to elucidate the strong influence of the bubbles and associated plasma turbulence in several space application systems (remote sensing with radar, space geodesy, trans-ionosphere telecommunication etc). The discovery of such phenomenon in the Brazilian ionosphere was reported by measurements with rocket-borne photometers and ground-based ionosond.

Fotsat: airglow photometer
This experiment has the objective of measuring the intensity of the terrestrial airglow emissions in global ranges of Oxygen OI 557.7nm, OI 630.0nm and OH(8,3) in global ranges. Special interests in this investigation are the equatorial ionosphere anomaly, the South-Atlantic anomaly, and the longitudinal and latitudinal variations of the dynamical process in the ionosphere. The photometer was designed and manufactured by INPE.

Orcas: solar and anomalous cosmic rays observation in the magnetosphere
The main objective of the telescope ORCAS is to measure the Anomalous Cosmic Rays (ACR) fluxes, from C to Ne, "trapped" into the belt by using solid detectors and by identifying the time and the direction of particle arrivals. The ORCAS will allow studies of the space distribution and of the dynamics associated to the population of the trapped particles in conditions of minimum solar activity with intense fluxes.

Ref: #14, #15 - update: 24.10.04