Norwegian satellite will be launched with Spacex's reuse rocket

The payload is a hyperspectral camera that was developed for, among other things, Northern Lights research. The microsatellite developers have adapted the camera to withstand the extreme environment in the room.

The camera will be aimed at the earth and especially the Norwegian coast where it will help to follow algae blooms. This can, among other things, contribute to research on the connection between algae blooms and sea temperature.

The satellite will also be part of research on how satellites and unmanned surface craft can collaborate on ocean monitoring.

After launch, it will take about one month for developers to know if the satellite is working properly or not. First the launch must go well, then the satellite must deploy properly and finally all the functions must be tested.

Excited

– I’m excited about whether the components work properly – especially how the degradation of the sensitivity of the cameras will be. It is a harsh environment up there, so it will be exciting to see how the examiners do, says Bakken.

He and Birkeland are in the process of preparing the recipient on the roof of the university, while the project manager Evelyn Honoré-Livermore will follow the launch from Florida.

There are a number of satellites that use hyperspectral cameras for Earth observation from before, but few that have cameras that are sensitive enough to observe algae in the ocean , according to the developers.

Hypso-1 will be launched in an orbit between 500 and 600 kilometers above the earth. It must go in polar and solar synchronous orbit. The former means that it passes both poles. The solar-synchronous orbit means that the light from the sun hits the earth in the same way when the satellite takes pictures in a given place, which makes the light conditions comparable on several observations.