MightySat I, is expected to help revolutionize subsystem components and how they will operate in the future. It is the first in a coming series of highly sophisticated Air Force demonstration platforms scientists and engineers will use to quickly integrate diverse, cutting-edge space technologies developed in the laboratory - and expedite their transition into actual satellites built for the warfighter.

According to 1st Lt. Barbara Braun of AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate, the 135-pound MightySat I is a low-cost satellite about the size of a tabletop television that will evaluate five payloads. "It is the first satellite to be built and tested here at Kirtland AFB," she said.

"One of our experiments involves the first composite satellite bus, or chassis, to be launched from the shuttle," Braun explained. "It makes up most of the MightySat I satellite itself. Extremely strong, it weighs a mere 17 pounds compared to the 32-pound aluminum counterpart typically used. And less weight means lower launch costs - always an important consideration in our business that spends tens of thousands of dollars for every pound put into orbit."

"MightySat I is also testing advanced dual-junction solar cells that provide 18-21 percent more power than today's state-of-the-art materials and designs. Other on-board experiments include smaller, more-radiation-tolerant electronic components; microparticle impact detectors; and a "shape-memory-actuated release device" that will help engineers prepare for the coming generation of 'kinder, gentler' payload release mechanisms that will impart much less physical shock to sensitive payloads than current explosive charges do," she added.

MightySat I orbital progress will be tracked here at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Test and Evaluation Directorate.

"We are responsible for the on-orbit care and feeding of the Air Force family of research satellites, and MightySat I is our most recent addition," said Space Operations Engineer 1st Lt. Valerie Malley.

"Using computer software, we 'fly' the satellite from our ground control station here and one in Virginia run by the Orbital Sciences Corporation," explained Malley, who is part of a joint Air Force and civilian contractor team charting the satellite's progress.

Malley and her peers will monitor MightySat I's health as it circles the earth and record the status of its five experiments. Her team will receive telemetry, capture moment-by-moment data, and inform AFRL scientists responsible for the on-board experiments how well subsystems are performing.

"During the first two weeks of the mission, known as the 'launch and early orbit' phase, we are primarily concerned with ensuring MightySat is spinning properly in the right orbit at the right attitude," Malley said. "Although the satellite has no thrusters, it does have three-axis magnetometers and torque coils that determine the attitude of the satellite and how it spins. We want it to tumble, end over end, rather than revolve around its axis. Once we do that, we will begin switching on MightySat's experiments. We also will keep in close contact with AFRL's people running the experiments. It should be an interesting mission for us!"

MightySat 2 Factsheet

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Satellite Launch To Boost DTH In India
Calcutta, India (SPX) Dec 28, 2005
The successful launch Thursday of India's heaviest satellite from spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana may have boosted the country's space research efforts to yet another level, but it has also lifted the spirits of at least three Direct-To-Home televisions broadcasters, one of which has been waiting for years to launch its services in India.