[Satellite TODAY 07-30-12]
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) has successfully separated the ExactView-1 satellite from its Soyuz launcher and has commenced operation of mission-critical systems onboard the spacecraft, SSTL confirmed July 27.
SSTL built the satellite under a subcontract issued by Canadian prime contractor ComDev for ExactEarth.
“ExactView-1 separated from the Soyuz launch vehicle’s Fregat upper stage in low Earth orbit approximately 2 1/2 hours after launch. SSTL has since established communications with the satellite in its of 817km sun synchronous orbit from SSTL’s Guildford mission control center and is receiving telemetry and commanding the spacecraft,” SSTL said in a statement. “Initial system checks have confirmed that critical systems such as power, avionics, telecommand and control are all functioning as expected, and the solar panel has been deployed.”
SSTL added that ComDev engineers would work alongside its ground team to commission its Automatic Identification System (AIS) payload once all platform systems on the satellite operational.
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