ICUBE-1 has been launched in a polar orbit, 600 km above the surface of the Earth and is designed to take low resolution images of Earth and other objects in space.
Pakistan’s first Cubesat satellite, iCUBE-1, was launched just after noon on Thursday from the Yasny launch base in Russia on-board the Dnepr-1 launch vehicle.
A press release issued by Institute of Space Technology (IST) welcomed the launch as good news for higher education institutions, students and researchers of Pakistan that IST has etched its name among the foremost universities in the world who have built and launched a cubesat satellite.
This CUBESAT satellite will open up a wide vista of future experiments that can be carried on cubesats in the domain of imaging, microgravity, biology, nanotechnology, space dynamics, chemistry, space physics and various other fields. Cubesats can also provide a test bed for developing satellite constellations for specific applications.
IST Vice Chancellor Imran Rahman congratulated ‘Team IST’ for this great achievement. He specifically thanked Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reforms Ahsan Iqbal, the HEC chairman and the National Space Agency chairman for their continuous encouragement, support and help in achieving this milestone.
ICUBE-1 has been launched in a polar orbit, 600 km above the surface of the Earth and is designed to take low resolution images of Earth and other objects in space. Initially, the 1.1 kg pico-satellite will transmit a continuous wave Morse code signal with the message “ICUBE-1 First CubeSat of Pakistan”.
The satellite has a volume of 10 cubic cm and houses several sensors to collect data for scientific purposes. ICUBE-1 is a fully autonomous satellite and is capable of maintaining its health via its on-board computer. The satellite will send its health data to ground stations and can also be controlled from the satellite tracking and control station at IST.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 22nd, 2013.
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The title is false: "...Pakistan launches.." It is Russia which launched it thru Russian rocket, Pakistan only built this 10cc toy :)
This idea was hot decade ago glad Pakistan is trying to catchup.
Great Job done by PAKISTANI ENGINEERS, we must appriciate them
It is probably 10 cm cube and not 10 cubic cms. Anyway IST did not launch it, they just built it which will give them good experience. I wonder what the Indians must be thinking at this great feat by Pakistani students. I am sure it will take them a few years to catch up. Great going, Pakistan!
Surely university students in Pakistan could have been more ambitious and aimed for a larger more complex satellite rather than settling for a tiny 1.1 Kg satellite. In this they could have followed the lead of students at Anna University at Chennai in India who put together a 40 Kg Micro-Satellite named Anusat which was boosted into orbit by India’s PSLV-C12 in 2009 or the lead of the less ambitious 3 Kg Jugnu satellite programme of students at the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur in India which was boosted into orbit by India’s PSLV-C18 in 2011.
Space dynamics???....But good start with the iceCube! Here's to bigger and better things (although 'size does not matter' and 'small is beautiful'). Perhaps the GSAT and INSAT guys can tone it down from 9000+ kgs to 9000 mgs now that pico- nano- and femto-satellites arising from the 'test bed of future satellite constellations' will soon be in vogue. And I'm awestruck at the 'wide vista of future experiments that can be carried on i(ce)cubesats in the domain of imaging, microgravity, biology, nanotechnology, space dynamics, chemistry, space physics and various other fields' - awful lot to expect from the little guy. But hey guys, this is the real deal, no water car shenanigans! Cheers PIST!!! (Pakistan Institute of Space Technology)
A volume of 10 cubic cm means the picture here is actually larger than the real thing. Now I understand the importance of nano technology.