science

SwissCube-1

SwissCube-1 is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SwissCube-1 rather than just read about it. In short: SwissCube-1 is a Swiss satellite operated by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). The spacecraft is a single unit CubeSat, which was designed to conduct research into nightglow within the Earth's atmosphere, and to develop technology for future spacecraft.

Key takeaways

SwissCube-1 belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SwissCube-1 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SwissCube-1 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SwissCube-1 is a Swiss satellite operated by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). The spacecraft is a single unit CubeSat, which was designed to conduct research into nightglow within the Earth's atmosphere, and to develop technology for future spacecraft. It has also been used for amateur radio. It was the first Swiss satellite to be launched.

History

SwissCube-1 was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation aboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, serial number C14, flying in the Core Alone, or PSLV-CA, configuration. The launch took place from the First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, at 06:21 UTC on 23 September 2009. SwissCube-1 was a secondary payload aboard the rocket, which deployed the Oceansat-2 satellite. Five other secondary payloads were flown aboard the rocket; BeeSat-1, UWE-2, ITU-pSat1, Rubin 9.1 and Rubin 9.2. SwissCube-1 is operating in a Sun-synchronous orbit with an apogee of 752 kilometres (467 mi), a perigee of 726 kilometres (451 mi) and 98.28 degrees of inclination to the equator. It has an orbital period of 98.5 minutes. Its mission was expected to last between three and twelve months. The mission was extended an additional 18 months in February 2010 and an additional ground command facility was added. It took its first picture on 18 February 2011 and its first airglow picture on 3 March 2011. On 2 December 2011, EPFL ended the SwissCube project and turned over control of the satellite to amateur radio operators. As of October 2023 SwissCube is still operational, after fourteen years in space. In anticipation of its future "debris" status in light of the slowly degrading lithium-ion batteries, the Clean Space One project was launched in 2012 to provide a spacecraft able to catch SwissCube-1 and remove it from orbit in the 2020 horizon. Following a successful tender for European Space Agency funding, the Clean Space One project was redirected towards another target.

Software architecture System documentation The COM (communication), PL (payload), ADCS (attitude and orientation), and EPS (energy) subsystems all have a MSP430F1611 microcontroller The CDMS (on board computer) has an ATMEL ARM AT91M55800A These microcontrollers used two I2C buses to communicate : one main bus (all subsystems) and one fallback bus (only EPS and COM). The cubesat had 4 operation modes : recovery (not enough power to work), safe (minimum subsystems running), and two standard modes (all subsystems are working nominally).

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SwissCube-1

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SwissCube-1 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SwissCube-1 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SwissCube-1 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SwissCube-1

In research: SwissCube-1 appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SwissCube-1 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SwissCube-1 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2009 in Switzerland, CubeSats, First artificial satellites of a country, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SwissCube-1 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SwissCube-1 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SwissCube-1 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SwissCube-1 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SwissCube-1 in simple terms?

Why does SwissCube-1 matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SwissCube-1?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SwissCube-1.