UWE-1

Names	Universität Würzburg's Experimentalsatellit-1
Mission type	Technology demonstration
Operator	University of Würzburg
COSPAR ID	2005-043C
SATCAT no.	28892
Mission duration	12 months (planned) 21 days (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	1U CubeSat
Bus	CubeSat
Manufacturer	University of Würzburg
Launch mass	1 kg (2.2 lb)
Dimensions	10 × 10 × 10 cm (3.9 × 3.9 × 3.9 in)
Power	2 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	27 October 2005, 06:52:26 UTC[1]
Rocket	Kosmos-3M
Launch site	Plesetsk, Site 132/1
Contractor	Yuzhnoye / NPO Polyot
Entered service	27 October 2005
End of mission
Last contact	17 November 2005
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit[2]
Regime	Sun-synchronous orbit
Perigee altitude	682 km (424 mi)
Apogee altitude	708 km (440 mi)
Inclination	98.18°
Period	98.67 minutes
UWE satellite Series UWE-2 →

UWE-1 (Universität Würzburg's Experimentalsatellit-1) was one of three CubeSats built by students of the University of Würzburg, launched on 27 October 2005 as part of the European Space Agency's SSETI Express mission from Plesetsk in Russia, orbiting Earth in a 686 km (426 mi) circular orbit. The cube-shaped satellite weighs about 1 kg and has an edge length of 10 cm, which corresponds to the CubeSat standard.^[3]

Mission

The primary mission of UWE-1 was to conduct telecommunication experiments. Among other things, it was about the data transmission on the Internet under space conditions: It was necessary to adapt the common Internet protocols to the difficult conditions in space environment on Earth, the transport of data on the Web works very reliable, but in space can increasingly delays and disruptions occur. Furthermore, UWE-1 also served as a test laboratory for highly efficient solar cells, whose performance and durability should be investigated.^[4]

Downlink/uplink frequency was 437.505 MHz, modulation was 9600 baud AFSK. The amateur radio sign of UWE-1 was DPØUWE.

End of mission

The last contact with the satellite took place on 17 November 2005. An identical UWE test model was made available to the Deutsches Museum in Munich in 2012, where it is exhibited together with a test model of the successor UWE-2 in the space department. UWE-1 was followed by the later UWE-2 launched into space on 23 September 2009.^[4]

UWE-1 still circles around the Earth today but fell silent after conducting the Internet experiments in 2005. Due to the friction with the rest of the atmosphere, UWE-1 continues braking until it will burn up completely in about 30 years.^[4]