SIMPLESAT

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SIMPLESAT
Organization NASA-Office of Space Science (United States)
Mission type Astronomy,Engineering
Launch date August 10, 2001 (2001-08-10)
Launch vehicle STS-105
Carrier rocket Space Shuttle
Launch site Cape Canaveral, United States
COSPAR ID 2001-035B
Mass 52.0kg


Simplesat has a 0.3-meter optical telescope and a GPS attitude control system. It is intended to test methods for building cheap astronomical satellites and controlling them from a cheap ground station. The 52-kg, 0.48-meter diameter, 0.66-meter high octagonal cylinder Simplesat was developed by NASA-Goddard. Two months after the launch, there has been no contact with the Simplesat astronomy test satellite and it now seems probable that the satellite failed.