Mazaalai (satellite)

Did You Know?

• A second satellite launch in 2018 was planned by the Mazaalai team members.
• Japan's work with non-spacefaring countries continued through Birds-2, launched on 29 June 2018 along with SpaceX CRS-15.
• Birds-2 involved the Philippines, Bhutan, and Malaysia.

Background

Mazaalai was built through the Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite program at Japan's Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT), which helped universities in non-spacefaring countries. It belonged to the Birds-1 constellation, which also included satellites from Japan, Ghana, Nigeria, and Bangladesh. Three university students from each of the five countries learned to build, develop, launch, and operate the satellites. GhanaSat-1 and BRAC Onnesha were the first satellites for Ghana and Bangladesh, respectively. MongolSat-1, launched earlier in 2017 by a Bermuda-based company and built by Boeing, is sometimes reported as Mongolia's first satellite.

Design

Named after the endangered Gobi bear native to Mongolia, Mazaalai was designed and built by three young researchers from the National University of Mongolia with students from Ghana, Japan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. The 1U CubeSat had a mass of about 1 kg and carried 0.3 megapixel and 5 megapixel cameras capable of 100 m resolution. It also had sensors for measuring air density and space radiation, and could transmit songs and data at 437 MHz.

Mission

Mazaalai reached the International Space Station on 3 June 2017 via the SpaceX CRS-11 mission, carried in a Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A. This was the 100th launch from LC-39A and the first reuse of a Dragon capsule by SpaceX. The satellite was released into orbit from the Japanese Kibō module on 7 July 2017, orbiting at about 400 km altitude with an inclination of 51.64°, completing an orbit every 92.57 minutes at 7.67 km/s. It performed experiments in GPS location, air density measurement, and cosmic radiation investigation, and transmitted Mongolia's national anthem to Earth.

The project aimed to develop more accurate maps, help mitigate natural disasters, and conduct independent space studies, supported by the Mongolian Emergency Organization of Government and the National University of Mongolia. The satellite communicated with seven ground stations: one in each Birds-1 country, plus one each in Thailand and Taiwan. It deorbited on 11 May 2019.