M-Cubed is a miniaturized satellite built by students at the University of Michigan in a joint project run by the Michigan Exploration Laboratory (MXL) and JPL. It is an example of the popular CubeSat design for amateur satellites. It was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on October 28, 2011 atop a Delta II rocket. M-Cubed was launched as a secondary payload to the Suomi NPP satellite, along with AubieSat-1, DICE-1, DICE-2, Explorer-1 Prime, and RAX-2.[2]
Mission type | Technology/Education |
---|---|
Operator | University of Michigan |
COSPAR ID | 2011-061F ![]() |
SATCAT no. | 37855 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 28 October 2011 (2011-10-28) |
Rocket | Delta II 7920-10C |
Launch site | Vandenberg SLC-2W |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Eccentricity | 0.0215612 |
Inclination | 101.7178° |
RAAN | 229.4521° |
Argument of perigee | 355.7858° |
Mean anomaly | 120.6105° |
Mean motion | 14.90323087 orbits/day |
Epoch | July 7, 2014[1] |
M-Cubed, short for Michigan Multipurpose Minisat, was designed as a technology demonstrator for a new FPGA-based image processing system intended for a future NASA mission, Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem, recommended by the Earth Science Decadal Survey.[3] The mission was also intended to validate the satellite bus design for use in future cubesat missions. The satellite uses a passive magnetorquer for attitude control, consisting of a large permanent magnet that aligns the satellite with the Earth's magnetic field. On-board control is provided by a Taskit Stamp9G20 microcontroller running Real time Linux.[2]
Following launch, MXL was unable to command M-Cubed, and observed anomalies in its transmitted data. MXL concluded that the M-Cubed CubeSat became magnetically conjoined to Explorer-1 [Prime], a second CubeSat released at the same time, via both satellites' attitude control magnets.[2][4] This is the first recorded instance of two satellites unintentionally and non-destructively latching together.[5] As a result of this incident, M-Cubed was unable to complete its mission.[2]
The M-Cubed mission was successfully re-flown as MCubed-2,[6] launched on December 6, 2013.[5]
← 2010 · Orbital launches in 2011 · 2012 → | |
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Elektro-L No.1 | USA-224 | Kounotori 2 | Progress M-09M (Kedr) | Kosmos 2470 | USA-225 | Johannes Kepler ATV | STS-133 (Leonardo) | Kosmos 2471 | Glory · Explorer-1 [Prime] · KySat-1 · Hermes | USA-226 | USA-227 | Soyuz TMA-21 | Compass-IGSO3 | USA-229 | Resourcesat-2 · YouthSat · X-Sat | Yahsat 1A · New Dawn | Progress M-10M | Meridian 4 | USA-230 | STS-134 (AMS-02 · ELC-3) | Telstar 14R | ST-2 · GSAT-8 / INSAT-4G | Soyuz TMA-02M | SAC-D | Rasad 1 | ChinaSat 10 | Progress M-11M | Kosmos 2472 | USA-231 | Shijian XI-03 | STS-135 (Raffaello · PSSC-2) | Tianlian I-02 | Globalstar M083 · Globalstar M088 · Globalstar M091 · Globalstar M085 · Globalstar M081 · Globalstar M089 | GSAT-12 | SES-3 · KazSat-2 | USA-232 | Spektr-R | Compass-IGSO4 | Shijian XI-02 | Juno | Astra 1N · BSAT-3c/JCSAT-110R | Paksat-1R | Hai Yang 2A | Sich 2 · NigeriaSat-2 · NigeriaSat-X · RASAT · EduSAT · AprizeSat-5 · AprizeSat-6 · BPA-2 | Ekspress-AM4 | Shijian XI-04 | Progress M-12M | GRAIL-A · GRAIL-B | Zhongxing-1A | Kosmos 2473 | Arabsat 5C · SES-2 | IGS Optical 4 | Atlantic Bird 7 | TacSat-4 | Tiangong-1 | QuetzSat 1 | Kosmos 2474 | Intelsat 18 | Eutelsat W3C | Megha-Tropiques · SRMSAT · VesselSat-1 · Jugnu | ViaSat-1 | Thijs · Natalia | NPP · E1P-U2 · RAX-2 · M-Cubed · DICE-1 · DICE-2 · AubieSat-1 | Progress M-13M (Chibis-M) | Shenzhou 8 | Kosmos 2475 · Kosmos 2476 · Kosmos 2477 | Fobos-Grunt · Yinghuo-1 | Yaogan 12 · Tian Xun-1| Soyuz TMA-22 | Shiyan Weixing 4 · Chuang Xin 1C | AsiaSat 7 | Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) | Kosmos 2478 | Yaogan 13 | Compass-IGSO5 | Amos-5 · Luch 5A | IGS Radar 3 | Pléiades-HR 1A · SSOT · ELISA 1 · ELISA 2 · ELISA 3 · ELISA 4 | NigComSat-1R | Soyuz TMA-03M | Ziyuan-1C | Meridian 5 | Globalstar M080 · Globalstar M082 · Globalstar M084 · Globalstar M086 · Globalstar M090 · Globalstar M092 | |
Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets). |