Cosmonauts Manually Deploy Peruvian Satellite During Spacewalk

A Russian cosmonaut deploying the Peruvian nano satellite Chasqui 1. Photo: NASA TV

[Via Satellite 08-19-2014] During the 181st spacewalk for assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station (ISS) Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev released by hand a 1-kg Peruvian nanosatellite dubbed Chasqui 1. Students at the National University of Engineering in Peru built the satellite for the purpose of gaining experience in satellite manufacturing and Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Chasqui 1 has two cameras, one visual and one infrared, as well as amateur radio band gear, power and communications mechanisms and an embedded control and information management system for all the satellite’s components. The satellite is designed for Earth observation and will deliver pictures of Earth to a designated ground station.