Satélite de Reentrada Atmosférica

SARA (Satélite de Reentrada Atmosférica)
Start of mission

Operator	Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço
Range	300 km (planned)
Apogee	350 km (planned)


Launch date	November 13, 2015 (UTC) (2015-11-13Z)
Rocket	VS-40M
Launch site	Centro de Lançamento da Barreira do Inferno


End of mission
Destroyed	Launch failure

SARA - Satélite de Reentrada Atmosférica is a Brazilian satellite project,^[1] with the objective of performing experiments in microgravity environment and returning them to the Earth.^[2]

SARA Suborbital

Configuration

The "Sara suborbital" platform heights 350 kg and is divided into four subsystems:

Structural
Electrical - includes cold gas actuators, designed to null the satellite's angular velocity after launch
Recovery - 3 parachutes: pilot, drogue and main
Experiment module (MEXP)

Flights

SARA Suborbital 1 / Operação São Lourenço

The proposed flight schedule includes a first sub-orbital test flight (SARA Suborbital 1) in 2014^[3]^[4] using a VS-40 rocket launched from the Centro de Lançamento da Barreira do Inferno (Operação São Lourenço).^[4] The predicted apogee is 350 km with a range of 300 km. Time spent in microgravity will be around 8 minutes, after which the satellite will reenter the atmosphere and be recovered at sea, 100 km out from Parnaíba.

On 13/11/2015 the launch was attempted, resulting on an explosion of the VS-40M V03 rocket on the pad.^[5]

SARA Suborbital 2

A second suborbital flight was planned (SARA Suborbital 2), to test flight attitude control system and de-orbit engine.

SARA Orbital

The orbital version of the satellite will operate in a circular 300 km low Earth orbit, during a maximum of 10 days.

References

^ "Projeto SARA". Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço. 2008-12-16. Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
^ Vieira; Arantes Filho; Loures (2008). "ANÁLISE DA ESTRUTURA INTERNA DO MÓDULO DE EXPERIMENTOS DO SARA SUBORBITAL" (PDF). Inicepg.univap.br. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
^ "Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço". Iae.cta.br. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
^ ^a ^b "Alcântara sedia encontro que discute atividade espacial no País". Portal Brasil. 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-06-21. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
^ CECOMSAER (2015). "Projeto SARA continua, afirma Diretor de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial - Força Aérea Brasileira". Força Aérea Brasileira.