The German Flying Laptop satellite, launched on 14 July 2017 on a Soyuz launch vehicle from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan,[1] hosts the OSIRISv1 laser communications experiment.[2] The satellite has a total mass of 110 kg.[3] It operates at a 600 kilometres (370 mi) Sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 97.6 degrees.[4]

The satellite is part of the Stuttgart Small Satellite Program, a program led by the German Space Agency.

Optical communications tests have been carried out with ground stations in Japan, Europe, and Canada,[5] with a data rate of up to 200 Mbit/s, from orbit to ground only.

The two fixed lasers of OSIRISv1 are aimed at ground stations by 'body pointing', attitude control of the entire satellite, using four reaction wheels.[3] The reaction wheels can be desaturated using three internal magnetorquers.[3]

Flying Laptop carries a de-orbit mechanism called DOM2500 developed by Tohoku University and manufactured by Nakashimada Engineering Works, Ltd., which upon activation will unfurl a sail to increase atmospheric drag.[6][7] The device will be used at the end of the satellite mission.[8]

Further reading

See also

References

  1. ^ "'Flying Laptop' and 'TechnoSat' successfully launched". www.dlr.de. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  2. ^ DLR laser terminal in space establishes contact with Japanese ground station Mar 2021
  3. ^ a b c OSIRISv1 on Flying Laptop: Measurement Results and Outlook preprint Fuchs 2019
  4. ^ "Flying Laptop". www.eoportal.org. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
  5. ^ Japan-Germany international joint experiment on space optical communication Mar 2021
  6. ^ "Stuttgart University small satellite mission capacities built up along with its Flying Laptop project" (PDF). United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. November 14, 2018. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  7. ^ "DOM Feature". Nakashimada Engineering Works, Ltd. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  8. ^ "Flying Laptop Academic Small Satellite Flying Laptop" (PDF). University of Stuttgart. Retrieved 2023-06-03.


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