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13 June 2003

Eurockot

For further information please contact:

Peter Freeborn
Director Sales
EUROCKOT Launch Services
Phone: + 49 421 539 65 12
Email: peter.freeborn{at}astrium-space.com

EUROCKOT
Launch Services GmbH
P.O.Box 28 61 46
D-28361 Bremen
Phone +49 421 539-6501
Fax +49 421 539 6500
Email eurockot{at}astrium-space.com
http://www.eurockot.com

13 June 2003

At the Service of Science: Rockot Multiple Orbit Mission hits
different Orbits

Part 1 of 2

Bremen, Germany -- At the end of June 2003, Eurockot Launch Services,
Bremen, will perform the Multiple Orbit Mission from Plesetsk
Cosmodrome in Northern Russia. Eurockot will launch a total of eight
scientific micro- and nano-satellites for different agencies and
institutes by deploying them into an elliptical as well as into a
sun-synchronous orbit. Additionally a mock-up of the Russian MONITOR
satellite will be mounted on Breeze. Eurockot will perform this
mission based on the multiple re-ignition capability of its Breeze
upper stage. This will be the first sun-synchronous mission of
Rockot. The flight will initially deploy one satellite into an
elliptical orbit. After another impulse maneuver of the main engine,
Breeze will then deploy seven further spacecraft into a
sun-synchronous orbit at pre-determined intervals. The MONITOR
mock-up will remain on the upper stage and will de-orbit together
with it. With this mission, Eurockot addresses the unique capability
of its upper stage: Multiple re-ignitions allow it to be precisely
positioned into different orbits and release several spacecraft
successively. 

Eurockot is cooperating with a number of international agencies and
institutes to launch their micro and nano satellites: MIMOSA, the 66
kg satellite of the Czech Astronomical Institute and MOST, the 51.3
kg satellite of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are prime payloads
for the Multiple Orbit Mission. Furthermore, two student-built
educational nano satellites, namely CubeSat XI of the University of
Tokyo Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory (ISSL) and CUTE-I of the
Tokyo Institute of Technology Laboratory for Space Systems (LSS) are
part of the Multiple Orbit Mission flight.

The University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies UTIAS leads
the Nanosatellite Launch System NLS-1 and NLS-2 comprising 4
satellites. For this mission UTIAS is collaborating with the Danish
Space Research Institute and the QuakeFinder Institute of the USA.
The Russian Khrunichev Space Center will launch a mockup of its
earth-observation satellite MONITOR.

Satellites and their Operators

The Czech MIMOSA satellite, with a total mass of 66 kg will be the
first satellite to be deployed during the Multiple Orbit Mission,
going into an elliptical orbit. MIMOSA, the acronym for
MIcroMeasurements Of Satellite Acceleration, will provide new data on
the density of the upper atmosphere using the highly sensitive MACEK
accelerometer. The orbit will have an apogee of 820 km thus using the
direct solar radiation pressure for the calibration of the
instrument; the perigee altitude of 320 km will assure the
penetration of the spacecraft into denser layers of the atmosphere.
The MIMOSA satellite has been designed and completed by Czech
research and industrial institutions under the leadership of the
Czech Astronomical Institute. 

Following the release of MIMOSA, Breeze will re-ignite its main
engine in the apogee to reach a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) of 820 km
altitude. 

The Canadian Space Agency's MOST satellite will be the first to be
released. MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of STars) will be
carrying Canada's first space telescope, with a mass of 51.3 kg. The
telescope will help to set a limit on the age of the Universe and
probe the properties of planets around other stars. Funded and
managed by the Canadian Space Agency's Space Science Branch under its
Small Payloads Program, the MOST project is the result of a
co-operative Canadian scientific partnership.

After deploying MOST, 6 nano-satellites will be deployed at
pre-determined intervals into an SSO as well. Two Japanese satellites
CubeSat XI and CUTE-I will be released first. CubeSat XI is the first
satellite of the University of Tokyo Intelligent Space Systems
Laboratory (ISSL) where 20 space-engineering students conduct the
project within ISSL as an education program. The mission of CubeSat
XI is to apply the cube-satellite bus technology and to validate the
use of commercial-off-shelf components in space. Another part of the
mission is earth imaging.

CubeSat is a joint international program, which aims at developing
and launching 10 cm cubic satellites weighing less than 1 kg. Twelve
facilities in Japan, the USA and Taiwan have so far joined this
program. The objective of the CubeSat program focuses primarily on
education to improve students' skills of space engineering and
project management. 

CUTE-I (CUbical Titech Engineering satellite-I) of the Tokyo
Institute of Technology Laboratory for Space Systems (LSS), is
another 10cm cube satellite weigh 1 kg. CUTE-I is again an
educational project and its mission is to validate fundamental nano-
satellite technology including original communication protocol check,
solar paddle deployment with a small mechanism, and original CMOS sun
sensor validation. CUTE-I will be released using a separation system
developed by LSS. 

Following these deployment maneuvers the NLS-1 satellites will be
deployed. NLS-1 combines three 1 kg satellites using a launch tube.
These satellites will be operated by different institutes, namely
CanX-1 by the University of Toronto, Canada; AAU Cubesat by Aalborg
University, Denmark and DTUsat by the Danish Technical University.
The main purpose of the satellites is star imaging. Next will be the
NLS-2 satellite with QuakeSat of the US QuakeFinder Institute.
QuakeSat weighs 3 kg and is also accommodated in a launch tube. The
satellite's mission is an earthquake detection experiment.

The launch tubes of NLS-1/2 were developed by Stanford University,
USA. Weighing 3-kg each, they are mounted directly onto the Rockot
upper stage. 

The mockup of Monitor, the Khrunichev-designed Russian earth
observation satellite, will transmit mission profile simulation data
during its entire flight. This mockup will remain on the Breeze upper
stage and will also de-orbit with it. For this final manoeuvre the
upper stage will be re-ignited once more. 

 - Continued -

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