December 23, 2016

Quick Facts

CASSIOPE/e-POP Fact Sheet

Satellite Name CASSIOPE. Also known as Swarm-Echo due to its participation in the ESA Swarm mission after 2018.
Satellite Number 39265
International Designator 13055A
Launch Date September 29, 2013
Operations Funding University of Alaska Fairbanks
Data Augmentation Funding Agencies Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency
Development Funding Partners Industrial Technologies Office Canada (Technology Partnerships Canada program), Canadian Space Agency, MDA Space
Prime Mission Contractor MDA Space
Bus Type Canadian SmallSAT Bus Prototype designed and built by Magellan Aerospace Winnipeg
Scientific Payload e-POP
Commercial Payload Cascade
Satellite Dimensions Hexagonal, 180 cm across x 125 cm high
Satellite Mass 500 kg
Launch Vehicle SpaceX Falcon 9, v1.1
Initial Orbit 325 x 1500 km, 80.99° inclination
Orbital Period 103 minutes (14 orbits per day)
Projected Lifetime 2 years
Science Instruments VHF/UHF transmitter (CER), VLF/HF receiver (RRI), auroral imagers (2) (FAI), GPS receivers (5) (GAP), ion detector (IRM), electron detector (SEI), neutral particle detector (NMS), magnetometers (2) (MGF)
Orbit Average Power Typically around 130 W, max 600 W
Power Source Solar array of five solar panels
Attitude Control System As of December 17, 2021: Spin-stabilized using torque rods (three of the four momentum wheels have failed, with the fourth turned off).
At launch: 3-axis stabilized using magnetometers (2), coarse sun sensors (6), star sensors (2), momentum wheels (4), torque rods (3)
Bus Data Uplink S-band, 4 Kbps
Bus Data Downlink S-band, up to 4 Mbps
Cascade Data Uplink/Downlink Ka-band, > 300 Mbps
e-POP Data Storage Up to 1.5 GB/orbit