Preliminary Design of ASUSat 1

ASUSat 1 represents a revolution in space science. The project will be smaller, faster, and cheaper than most comparative missions. The students at Arizona State University are challenged to design, fabricate, and launch a 10-pound-class (4.5 kg) satellite to perform meaningful science in space. Orbital Sciences Corporation is developing the deployment system for this prototype payload from the Pegasus launch vehicle. The project will allow for low-cost measurement of micro particles from interplanetary dust and asteroids in low Earth orbit. The satellite will be placed in a near-polar, sun-synchronous orbit to detect the flux, mass, velocity, trajectory, and temperature of these particles. The timeline for the project is approximately two years from project definition to launch.