The new plan of Russian launches suggests that the BRITE-PL “Lem” scientific satellite will be launched on the 28th of September 2012 aboard a Dnepr rocket. Besides Lem, four other satellites will ride to the orbit on this flight.
Until recently, it was still unknown when the first Polish scientific satellite would be launched. Unofficial sources claim that the Polish Space Research Center (CBK) was analyzing several options in search of the most optimal launch system. Due to small mass and dimensions, the BRITE-PL “Lem” was and still is planned to be launched as a secondary payload. This means that CBK had to find a rocket system which allows multiple payloads to be launched in a single flight and probably held
meetings and negotiations with other parties interested in launching their own satellite.
In late September 2011, during the name-giving ceremony, an official information related to the launch system was published by CBK. The managers of BRITE-PL project decided to launch Lem on board the Dnepr rocket with four other satellites:DubaiSat, STSat-3, WNISAT-1 and another currently unknown satellite.
Recently, a launch date was chosen by the rocket suppliers – it is the 28th of September 2012. This Dnepr rocket will launch all five satellites to an SSO orbit of 600 km altitude.
The launch of Lem will become Poland’s second satellite, but the first one dedicated to science. For January 2012 the maiden flight of the European Vega launcher is planned, which will put PW-Sat, a student technology demonstrator based on a Cubesat design into orbit.
