Countdown to launch of the first microsatellites qualified for flight on Ariane-5 ASAP

In the fourth quarter of 2000, the first Ariane-5 to carry “piggy-back” payloads on the newly-designed ASAP ring is planned to be launched into a geo-synchronous orbit. The two 100kg spacecraft carried on the ring will be the second generation of microsatellites from the UK Defence Evaluation & Research Agency (DERA), called STRV-1c and –1d. Between them, these spacecraft carry 25 separate experiments sponsored by a wide variety of national and international government agencies, academia and industry. The experiments cover a wide range of technical research areas including new lightweight RF hardware, Internet-type communications protocols experiments, the latest radiation detectors, GPS experiments and debris detectors. The paper describes the process of assembly, integration and test of these small, but very challenging, spacecraft leading up to the launch campaign and initial operations phases. The management and technical lessons learned through the process of becoming the first microsatellites to be qualified for flight on the new Ariane-5 ASAP are also described.