CFESat undergoing inspections at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

CFESat (Cibola Flight Experiment Satellite) was a satellite that examined radio spectra for ionospheric and lightning studies, using field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). As well as science observation, the mission aimed to demonstrate the use of reconfigurable FPGAs to work in the radiation environment of low Earth orbit.[1][2]

The eight satellite payloads were built by Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the bus was built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.[1][2] CFESat was the fourth experimental satellite project conducted between the National Nuclear Security Administration and NA-22 (the United States Department of Energy's Office of Research and Development), following up on previous space validation experiments performed on the ALEXIS and FORTE satellites.[3]

CFESat was launched on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral on 8 March 2007, alongside Orbital Express, MidSTAR-1 and FalconSAT-3.[4]

CFESat reentered the atmosphere on 12 November 2022, after fifteen years in orbit.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "CFEsat successfully launched on ATLAS EELV". Surrey Satellite Technology. 9 March 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b Ambrosiano, Nancy (9 March 2007). "NNSA satellite launched on Atlas-5 rocket". Los Alamos National Laboratory. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  3. ^ Ambrosiano, Nancy (31 August 2006). "Supercomputing satellite hits the road". Los Alamos National Laboratory. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  4. ^ Warren, Ken (12 March 2007). "Air Force's satellite-loaded Atlas V is 50th launch success". United States Air Force. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  5. ^ "CFESAT". N2YO.com. 12 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.

External links


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