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SLU-01 (COPPER): Launched October 2013, no contact on orbit
SLU-02 (Argus): Launched November 2015, launch failure
SLU-03 (Argus-2) Launched November 2019, Deployed from the ISS February 2020, no contact on orbit
SLU-01: COPPER
SLU-01: COPPER
The Close Orbiting Propellant Plume and Elemental Recognition (COPPER) mission was to perform a first flight of a commercially-available, compact microbolometer array. The idea was to evaluate the suitability of using this instrument for Earth observation and space situational awareness. COPPER is a 1U CubeSat (10 cm cube with a mass around 1 kg) designed to operate in Low Earth Orbit.
COPPER was SLU’s entry into the University Nanosat-6 Competition, which ran from 2009-2011. In February 2011, COPPER was selected by NASA for a sponsored launch under its Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) Program. COPPER was manifested on the ORS-3 launch, a Minotaur-1 rocket flight out of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops Island, VA. COPPER was launched on 19 November 2013, but was never heard from on-orbit.
COPPER's Mission
COPPER was the first spacecraft developed by the students at Saint Louis University. As such, our primary objective was to take a spacecraft through the design, testing, launch and operations phase. (While 3 out of 4 isn't bad, we can't call it a success...) We were also interested in testing out the usefulness of the Tau microbolometer array for use in our Rascal proximity-operations mission.
About COPPER
Copper consists of the SCARAB bus and two plug-in payloads:
The FLIR Tau 320 Microbolometer Array, with a custom-built interface board, giving us greater control over the imager and allowing us to store 14-bit images at speeds approaching 30 frames per second.
The Commodore payload, develped by Vanderbilt University as a pathfinder for the Argus mission.
SLU-02 Argus
SLU-02 Argus
Argus was a collaborative project between SSRL and the Institute for Defense and Space Electronics (ISDE) at Vanderbilt University. Argus’ mission is to improve the ability to model the effects of space radiation on modern electronics. That was done by comparing the rates of on-orbit radiation events against the predictive models developed by ISDE. Argus is a 2U CubeSat (10x10x20 cm) with a mass of 3.0 kg designed to operate in Low Earth Orbit.
Argus is SLU’s entry into the University Nanosat-7 Competition, which began in January 2011 and culminated in a Flight Competition Review in January 2013. In February 2012, Argus was selected by NASA for a sponsored launch under its Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) Program. Argus was launched on 3 November 2015 as part of the ORS-4 Mission on the inaugural flight of the Super-Strypi rocket out of Hawaii. Unfortunately, the launch failed early in the flight, and Argus did not reach orbit.
SLU-03 Argus-2
SLU-03 Argus-2
Argus-2 was a reflight of the Argus mission on a short turnaround; instead of a 2U spacecraft we put as much as possible into a 1U. It was launched in late 2019 on a cargo flight to the ISS and deployed in February 2020. There were some gorgeous photos of the deployment but unfortunately no contact was ever made.
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