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124 MEMS and Microstructures in Aerospace Applications

PICOSATs

Launcher

FIGURE 6.8 A pair of PICOSATS launched from the cargo bay of the space shuttle during
the STS-113 mission in December 2002. Each PICOSAT carried a three-axis inertial
measurement assembly consisting of MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers. (Source:
NASA/JPL.)

and can communicate directly with ground stations on Earth. Its low mass and size
allow taking advantage of the numerous opportunities to fly secondary payloads on
Earth-orbiting missions, in some cases by replacing the ‘‘ballast’’ that would
otherwise be flown. The PICOSAT spacecraft is amenable to testing a wide range
of MNT devices and systems including those developed for inertial guidance,
micropropulsion, RF communication, and microinstrumentation. The most recent
flight of the PICOSAT was on the Space Shuttle (STS-113) in December 2002.
Figure 6.8 shows a pair of PICOSATs being released into LEO from the cargo bay
of the Space Shuttle.

© 2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC