A short animation of the Polish student CubeSat, PW-Sat, has just been published. On this animation one can see the deployment of the ‘tail’ structure, which is covered with experimental solar panels.
The animation was prepared by Paweł Sańczyk and presents the main objective of the mission – the deployment of a ‘tail-like’ structure, which will speed-up the orbital decay process of the satellite. In addtion, the ‘tail’ structure is covered with experimental solar panels, which will allow students and scientists involved in the PW-Sat project to gather more data for further scientific analysis.
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The animation presenting the PW-Sat orbital operations / Credits – SKA, PW, PW-Sat, CBK PAN, Paweł Sańczyk, maciejurbanowicz
PW-Sat was selected by the European Space Agency to be launched aboard the new European small-size rocket (Vega) together with eight other small CubeSats. After some delays, the Vega rocket will most likely launch for the first time in January 2012. PW-Sat will be launched on this maiden flight.
In order to secure the place on the first Vega rocket, the flight model of PW-Sat had to be assembled in the first week of October 2011. Later a short set of tests (vibrations, functional tests and vacuum-thermal checks) was done, after which the satellite was sent to ESTEC in the Netherlands.
