Delfi-C3 - Frequently Asked Questions

DELFI-C³ MISSION ELAPSED TIME

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How high does Delfi-C3 fly?

The satellite will fly at an altitude of 630 kilometer above the earth's surface.

How fast will the Delfi-C3 fly?

The satellite will have an orbital velocity of 7.54 kilometers per second.

How long will it take Delfi-C3 to orbit the earth one time?

This is the so called period of the satellite, the period of Delfi-C3 is 97.31 minutes.

What will be the mass of Delfi-C3?

The mass of the satellite will be 3 kilograms.

When will Delfi-C3 be launched?

The Delfi-C3 satellite will be launched on 14th of February 2008 from the Indian launch site Sriharikota onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

How long will the Delfi-C3 be in orbit?

The drawback of the altitude at which the satellite will fly is the decay of the orbit. Due to atmospheric drag the satellite will lose energy, and thus altitude. For Delfi-C3 this means that it will stay in orbit for several decades. The Delfi-C3 mission has been developed around a mission lifetime of one year.

Why is the satellite called Delfi-C3?

The first part of the name, Delfi, refers to the university at which the satellite is built. The second part of the name refers to the size of the satellite, which is three times the size of a standard cubesat (10x10x10 cm).

Do you have another question? Contact us!

Newsflash

Delfi-C3 2 year anniversary

Today exactly 2 years ago Delfi-C3 was launched from India on a PSLV rocket at 3:53 AM UTC. Today we celebrate the fact that Delfi-C3 has been in orbit and fully operational for 2 continuous years or 10.809 orbits around the Earth. We would like to thank all the radio amateurs for their continued support and telemetry submission. Happy Birthday Delfi-C3!!

Delfi-C3 on Klokhuis

Delfi-C3 was featured on an episode of the Dutch children's program called Klokhuis (meaning 'apple core'). For more info and the episode itself please check our photo weblog.

In the meantime Delfi-C3 is approaching it's 1-year anniversary. The spacecraft is still performing well and returning science data through our own groundstation and the invaluable amateur radio data collection network.

Delfi-C3 back in science mode

On January 29th, after having been in orbit for 9 months and 1 day, Delfi-C3 has been put back in science mode. This decision was reached because of problems with the on-board transponder, which unfortunately prohibits proper operation of the transponder.