38082 - XATCOBEO

Xatcobeo, originally known as Dieste, is a project to build the first Galician artificial satellite developed by a team from various departments of the University of Vigo, lead by Fernando Aguado in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial (INTA) and with the support of the Galician government-owned corporation Retegal. The project was presented to the European Space Agency for its launch on the inaugural flight of the Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Centre, in Kourou (French Guiana). Its lifetime will be between 6 and 12 months, and its cost will be around 1.2 million euros, 50% being funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Investigacion of Spain, 25% by Retegal, and 25% jointly by the University of Vigo and INTA.

It is a CubeSat-type satellite, and its objective will be to do research related to communication and solar power for satellites.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2012-02-13
Launch Vehicle: Vega
Launch Site: Kourou, French Guiana