AlSAT-1

{{Short description|Algerian satellite that is part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}

{{Infobox spaceflight

| name = ALSAT-1

| image = Satellite algérien.jpg

| mission_type = Earth observation

| operator = CNTS / SSTL

| website =

| COSPAR_ID = 2002-054A{{cite web|url=http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx589.html|title=SPACEWARN Bulletin|issue=589|date=1 December 2002|publisher=NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive}}

| SATCAT =

| mission_duration = {{time interval|28 November 2002|August 2010}}

| spacecraft_bus =

| manufacturer = SSTL

| dry_mass =

| launch_mass = {{convert|88|kg|lb}}

| dimensions =

| power =

| launch_date = {{start-date|28 November 2002, 06:07:00|timezone=yes}} UTC

| launch_rocket = Kosmos-3M

| launch_site = Plesetsk Cosmodrome

| launch_contractor =

| disposal_type =

| deactivated = August 2010

| last_contact =

| decay_date =

| orbit_epoch =

| orbit_reference =

| orbit_regime = Sun synchronous

| orbit_periapsis = {{convert|700|km|mi}}

| orbit_apoapsis = {{convert|700|km|mi}}

| orbit_inclination = 98 degrees

| orbit_period = 98.5 min

}}

ALSAT-1{{cite conference|first1=J|last1=Cooksley|first2=A|last2=da Silva Curiel|first3=P|last3=Stephens|first4=L|last4=Boland|first5=S|last5=Jason|first6=W|last6=Sun|first7=M|last7=Sweeting|url=http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2003/All2003/38/|title=ALSAT-1 First Year in Orbit|conference=17th AIAA / USU Conference on Small Satellites|date=2003}} is the first Algerian satellite and it is part of a group of satellites collectively known as the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC).{{cite conference|first1=D|last1=Gibbon|first2=L|last2=Boland|first3=N|last3=Bean|first4=Y|last4=Hashida|first5=A|last5=da Silva Curiel|first6=M|last6=Sweeting|first7=P|last7=Palmer|url=http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2004/All2004/51/|title=Commissioning of a Small Satellite Constellation - Methods and Lessons Learned|conference=18th AIAA / USU Conference on Small Satellites|date=2004}}{{cite conference|first1=L|last1=Boland|first2=A|last2=da Silva Curiel|first3=M|last3=Sweeting|first4=P|last4=Stephens|first5=D|last5=Hodgson|url=http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2005/all2005/19/|title=Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) – Success Based on Small Satellite Technologies|conference=19th AIAA / USU Conference on Small Satellites|date=2005}} The satellite was built by a group of engineers from Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) and Algerian Centre National des Techniques Spatiales (CNTS). It was the first DMC satellite to be launched of the five to seven that are planned. The DMC was the first satellite constellation designed for that objective. The launch took place on 28 November 2002 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on a Kosmos-3M launcher in -20 degree Celsius weather. It completed its mission after seven years and nine months in August 2010. The satellite was designed to operate for five years.{{cite web|url=http://www.sstl.co.uk/Blog/August-2010/Algeria-s-first-satellite-mission-completed|title=Algeria's first satellite mission completed|first1=Robin|last1=Wolstenholme|publisher=Surrey Satellite Technology Limited|date=26 August 2010|access-date=24 March 2013|archive-date=10 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910220345/http://www.sstl.co.uk/Blog/August-2010/Algeria-s-first-satellite-mission-completed|url-status=dead}}

AlSat-1 is built on the SSTL-100 platform. The onboard instrumentation consists of two banks with three Earth imaging cameras each that, in total, have a resolution of 32 meters in three spectral bands (NIR, red, and green). The imaging swath of the cameras is 600  km. The satellite was constructed in a fifteen-month time period by the British and Algerians, of which eleven Algerian engineers were trained by SSTL. The satellite uses resistojets for propulsion, and butane as its propellant. The resistojets provide more than 20 m/s of delta velocity.