Goliat

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Goliat
Mission type Science, Experimental
Operator Romanian Space Agency
COSPAR ID 2012-006D
SATCAT № 38080
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer Romanian Space Agency
Launch mass 1.062 kilograms (2.34 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date 13 February 2012, 10:00:00 (2012-02-13UTC10Z) UTC[1]
Rocket Vega
Launch site Kourou ELA-1
Contractor Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee 302 kilometres (188 mi)
Apogee 1,075 kilometres (668 mi)
Inclination 69.46 degrees
Period 98.40 minutes
Epoch 31 October 2013, 20:12:28 UTC[2]

Goliat is the first artificial satellite developed in Romania.

Description

The nano satellite was developed and built by the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA). When the project began, the developers of this satellite were still in college.

The satellite is cube-shaped and has a mass of 1 kilogram, and its dimensions are 10 cm on each side. It is built on a Cubesat platform.[3] The satellite carries out three scientific tasks: micrometeorite flux measurements, cosmic radiation flux measurements at LEO and Earth surface imaging via a 3 megapixel camera.

The project was funded and supported by the Romanian Ministry of Education and the European Space Agency.

Launch

Although the initial launch was planned for 2008, the project had been postponed due to some issues with the carrier rocket, Vega.

The satellite was successfully launched on 13 February 2012 from the Guiana Space Centre, together with LARES and other CubeSat satellites from other European countries.[4]

As of 26 February 2012, it appears that the satellite has not settled into the orbit properly. Due to a malfunction to its stabilizing system, it is expected that the satellite will spin uncontrollably and eventually get lost in space. However, the coordinator of the project, Mugurel Bălan has stated that the situation is under control.[5]

The agency managed make contact with the satellite on the 18th of February 2012 but only briefly to receive some basic parameters, however it was unable to get its systems running. Contact was lost permanently shortly afterwards. The satellite re-entered the atmosphere on 2 January 2015 and disintegrated.[6]

References

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  3. Historic moment: Goliat, first Romanian satellite in space, to be launched in February - Bucharest Herald (25 January 2012) - Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  4. ESA Press Kit - Vega qualification flight VV01 (pdf) - Retrieved 16 February 2012.
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