KySat-1
{{Short description|American satellite}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = KySat-1
| image =
| image_caption =
| image_size = 300px
| mission_type = Technology
| operator = Kentucky Space
| COSPAR_ID =
| SATCAT =
| website =
| mission_duration = 18-24 months (planned)
Failed to orbit
| spacecraft = CubeSat
| spacecraft_type = 1U CubeSat
| manufacturer = Kentucky Space
| launch_mass = {{cvt|1|kg}}
| dimensions = {{cvt|10|x|10|x|10|cm}}
| power = Solar cells and batteries
| launch_date = 4 March 2011, 10:09:43 UTC
| launch_rocket = Taurus-XL 3110
| launch_site = Vandenberg, LC-576E
| launch_contractor = Orbital Sciences Corporation
| entered_service = Failed to orbit
| disposal_type =
| last_contact =
| decay_date =
| orbit_reference = Geocentric orbit (planned)
| orbit_regime = Low Earth orbit
| orbit_periapsis =
| orbit_apoapsis =
| orbit_inclination =
| orbit_period =
| apsis = gee
}}
KySat-1 was an American satellite which was to have been operated by Kentucky Space. Designed to operate for eighteen to twenty four months, it was lost in a launch failure in March 2011 after the Taurus launch vehicle carrying it failed to achieve orbit.{{cite web|url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/kysat-1.htm|title=KySat 1|first=Krebs|last=Gunter |publisher=Gunter's Space Page|date=23 September 2019|access-date=24 October 2021}}{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/taurus/glory/110304gloryfail/|title=Taurus rocket nose shroud dooms another NASA satellite|publisher=Spaceflight Now|date=March 2011}}
Spacecraft description
KySat-1 was a single-unit CubeSat picosatellite which was built as part of a programme to involve and interest schoolchildren in spaceflight. Children would have been given access to the satellite; uploading and downloading data and using a camera aboard the spacecraft to produce images of the Earth. The satellite also carried a secondary technology demonstration payload; investigating the use of S-band communication at high bandwidths.{{cite web|url=http://kysat.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/01/kentucky-space-receives-launch-assignment-from-nasa.html|title=Kentucky Space receives launch assignment from NASA|date=27 January 2011|publisher=Kentucky Space|access-date=23 April 2011}}
Launch
KySat-1 was launched by Orbital Sciences Corporation using a Taurus-XL 3110 launch vehicle flying from Launch Complex 576E at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was a secondary payload on the launch, with the primary payload being the NASA Glory spacecraft. Hermes and Explorer-1 Prime were launched aboard the same rocket. The launch took place at 10:09:43 UTC on 4 March 2011,{{cite web |url=http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|first=Jonathan|last=McDowell|author-link=Jonathan McDowell|publisher=Jonathan's Space Report|access-date=23 April 2011}} and ended in failure after the payload fairing failed to separate from around the spacecraft just under three minutes after launch. With the fairing still attached, the launch vehicle had too much mass to achieve orbit, and reentered over the southern Pacific Ocean or the Antarctic.{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/taurus/glory/failure.html|title=NASA science satellite lost in Taurus launch failure|date=4 March 2011|first=William|last=Harwood|publisher=Spaceflight Now|access-date=23 April 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.639|title=Issue 639|first=Jonathan|last=McDowell|publisher=Jonathan's Space Report|date=16 March 2011|access-date=23 April 2011|archive-date=27 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927021720/http://planet4589.org/space/jsr/back/news.639|url-status=dead}} It was the second consecutive failure of a Taurus launch vehicle, following the loss of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory in 2009.
References
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
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{{Orbital launches in 2011}}
Category:Spacecraft launched in 2011