August 1, 2014

Satellite

Parasol satellite is composed of :

The microsatellite spacecraft bus and its standard equipment

This bus was designed for satellites with a launch mass under 100 kg. Its attitude control system uses a star tracker, gyrometers and reaction wheels. It uses hydrazine propellant for station keeping. Onboard management is centralised around a 10 MIPS T805 microprocessor. Data can be stored on a mass storage unit and telemetry and remote instructions use the CCSDS standard.

The payload

The payload includes a computer and a 16 Gb mass storage unit, high-speed telemetry equipment, and the Polder instrument.

The satellite was an auxiliary passenger on an Ariane 5G+ launch vehicle. The launcher also carried the Helios 2A satellite, the first component of a French second-generation observation system designed for security and defence purposes, the 4 Essaim microsatellites, and a Spanish nanosatellite. Parasol was mounted on the ASAP5 platform (Ariane Structure for Auxiliary Payload) with the five remaining auxiliary passengers. It separated last from the launch vehicle and entered a 705 km high slightly elliptical orbit.