SAPPHIRE

SAPPHIRE (Stanford AudioPhonic PHotographic IR Experiment, also called Navy-OSCAR 45) was a satellite built by the Stanford University students in Palo Alto, California.[1]

Athena 1 rocket launching SAPPHIRE from Kodiak Island, AK.

SAPPHIRE

SAPPHIRE satellite
Mission type	Communications
Operator	USNA / University of Santa Clara
COSPAR ID	2001-043D[1]
SATCAT no.	26932
Mission duration	2 years and 6 months
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Stanford University
Launch mass	16 kg (35 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	30 September 2001, 02:40 UTC
Rocket	Athena 1 LM-001
Launch site	Kodiak LP-1
Contractor	Lockheed Martin
End of mission
Disposal	Decommissioned
Last contact	2005
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Eccentricity	0.0[1]
Altitude	794 km (493 mi)[1]
Inclination	67°[1]
Period	101 minutes[1]
Epoch	30 Sep 2001[1]
OSCAR

The satellite was launched on September 30, 2001 together with Starshine 3, PICOSat and PCSat on an Athena 1 rocket at the Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska, United States.

Its purpose was the training of students, the operation of an infrared sensor, a digital camera, a speech synthesizer and from 2002 the operation of an APRS digipeater.[2] He also served to train midshipmen of the US Naval Academy in the field of satellite control.

The satellite's mission ended in early 2005.

Frequencies

• Uplink: 145.945 MHz
• Downlink: 437.1 MHz
• Mode: 1200 bit/s AFSK
• Call sign: KE6QMD[3]

See also

• OSCAR

External links

• Stanford’s First Amateur Satellite. PDF

References

1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. "SAPPHIRE". Retrieved February 15, 2020.
2. eo Portal Directory. "SAPPHIRE (Stanford AudioPhonic Photographic IR Experiment)". eoportal.org. Retrieved 15 Feb 2020.
3. n2yo.com. "SAPPHIRE". Retrieved 15 Feb 2020.