Algeria’s first nanosatellite, Alsat-1N, celebrated its sixth orbital anniversary on September 26, following its launch in 2016. The satellite’s design life was initially set at one year, but it has continued to operate efficiently, performing more 32,000 rotations around the Earth. The development of the satellite was part of a cooperation project between the Algerian Space Agency (ASAL) and the British Space Agency (UKSA).
It is a 3U Cubesat type nanosatellite and integrates three scientific and technological payloads:
- Thin film solar cells;
- A 2nd generation compact CMOS camera demonstrator (C3D2) integrating three cameras with different fields of view;
- An AstroTube Boom, a retractable telescopic mast that can deploy up to 1.5 meters.
The Alsat-1N team continues to ensure the maintenance of ground segment equipment and the proper functioning of satellite subsystems. This has been the determining factor in the exceptional extension of the actual life of the satellite in orbit.
Since its launch, the team has gained good experience covering all main lines of the control station. These include in-orbit surveillance operations, data collection and analysis, preparation of plans for the next passes and data exploitation as well as the development and improvement of the mission control system.
