CubeSAT - Polar Scout
The Coast Guard Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) Program, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), has launched two 6U CubeSats from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The launch is part of the Polar Scout project to evaluate the effectiveness of space-based sensors in support of Arctic search and rescue missions. Knowledge gained from this demonstration will be used to inform satellite technology recommendations for many potential applications within the Coast Guard and across DHS.
Since the geodesic orbit were the poles, specifically the Arctic pole, the satellite earth station was located on the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks.
Auxiliary On-Site Support
When the RDC team leader, Bruce Buckley, was on site one day, he was asked if we had an AUX person, they could call if they needed someone to simply go on site and do a system reset at the earth station. Basically push the on/off button. District Commodore Jim Chase was pleased when an AUX team showed up to help build the earth station. Since then, they have located an earth station on top of Smith Hall at the Coast Guard Academy to use for testing.
Click on the image for more on CubeSat.