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miniaturized satellite
(redirected from picosat)

   Also found in: Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
miniaturized satellite
A communications satellite that is considerably smaller and lighter than the geostationary satellites that weigh several tons. Smaller satellites are less costly to manufacture and deploy and can be piggybacked on rockets with the launch of larger satellites. Miniaturized satellites are designated by their maximum weight, as follows:

                       Approximate
                      Maximum Weight
 Type                    (pounds)

 minisatellite (minisat)   1,100

 microsatellite (microsat)   220

 nanosatellite (nanosat)      22

 picosatellite (picosat)       2.2


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As part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Picosat program, the AFRL/IF launched the world's smallest satellite--the Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems-Based Picosatellite Inspector (MEPSI)--from the space shuttle in November 2002, thus laying the groundwork for an emerging onboard-protection and/or servicing capability for satellites.
The picosatellites were ejected into space from the Stanford University Orbiting Picosat Automated Launcher (OPAL), a satellite platform that flew aboard an Air Force rocket launched from Vandenberg AFB on Jan.
The two secondary experiments are the Computerized Ionospheric Tomography Receiver in Space (CITRIS), which will investigate irregularities that affect propagation of satellite-to-ground links for GPS and communications; and the Micro-Electro-Mechanical (MEMS)-based PicoSat Inspector (MEPSI), a miniature free-flyer that will be released from STPSat-1 to demonstrate MEMS utility and related microsystems for proximity operations.
 
 
 
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