Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 2, 2026

ÑuSat

ÑuSat satellite series is a series of Argentinean commercial Earth observation satellites. They form the Aleph-1 constellation, which is designed, built and operated by Satellogic.

Last revised
Jun 2, 2026
Read time
≈ 9 min
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1,974 w
Citations
92
Source
ÑuSat
Mission typeCommercial Earth observation
OperatorSatellogic S.A.
Websitewww.satellogic.com
Mission duration3 years (planned)
Spacecraft properties
BusSmall Satellite
ManufacturerSatellogic
Launch mass38.5 kg (85 lb)
41 kg (ÑuSat 9-18)
Start of mission
Launch date30 May 2016 UTC (1st, 2nd)
15 June 2017 (3rd)
2 February 2018 (4th, 5th)
15 January 2020 (7th, 8th)
2 September 2020 (6th)
6 November 2020 UTC (9th-18th)
30 June 2021 (19th-22nd)
1 April 2022 (23rd-27th)
25 May 2022 (28th-31st)
3 January 2023 (32nd-35th)
15 April 2023 (36th-39th)
12 June 2023 (40th-43rd)
4 March 2024 (44th)
16 August 2024 (45th-47th)
RocketLong March 4B, Long March 2D, Vega, Long March 6, Falcon 9 Block 5
Launch siteTaiyuan, Jiuquan, Kourou, Cape Canaveral

ÑuSat satellite series (Spanish: ÑuSat, sometimes translated into English as NewSat) is a series of Argentinean commercial Earth observation satellites. They form the Aleph-1 constellation, which is designed, built and operated by Satellogic.

Overview

Satellites design

The satellites in the constellation are identical 51 × 57 × 82 cm spacecraft of 38.5 kg (85 lb) mass. The satellites are equipped with an imaging system operating in visible light and infrared. The constellation will allow for commercially available real-time Earth imaging and video with a ground resolution of 1 m (3 ft 3 in). The satellites were developed based on the experience gained on the BugSat 1 prototype satellite.

BugSat 1

The BugSat 1 (nickname Tita) was a technology demonstration mission for the ÑuSat satellites. It was launched on 19 June 2014 by a Russian Dnepr rocket. It was a microsatellite weighing 22 kg with outer dimensions of 27.5 × 50 × 50 cm. It also carried amateur radio capabilities.

Missions

The Aleph-1 constellation will consist of more than 300 satellites. The first two satellites were launched as piggy-back payloads on a Chinese Long March 4B rocket in May 2016 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center into a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 97.5°. The third satellite was launched as a piggy-back payload on a Long March 4B launch vehicle in June 2017. The fourth and fifth satellites were launched as piggy-backs on a Long March 2D rocket in February 2018. The sixth satellite was launched on a rideshare mission on a Vega rocket in September 2020. Satellites number seven and eight were launched as piggy-backs on a Long March 2D rocket in January 2020. Satellites number 9-18 were launched on a Long March 6 launch vehicle on 6 November 2020.

Ground communications

An U/V transponder with 2 watts of output power for 8 GHz downlink and 2 GHz uplink will be operating on 100 kHz bandwidth.

LabOSat / MeMOSat payloads

MeMOSat, developed by the LabOSat Group, designed and built by a group of scientists at the National Atomic Energy Commission (Spanish: Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA)), the National Institute of Industrial Technology (Spanish: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial (INTI)), the National University of General San Martín (Spanish: Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM)) and National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET).

This memory was specially designed to operate in harsh environments and adverse conditions, such as the strong radiation it must withstand in space. Its main objective is to test electronic components that will be commercialized in the future. To do this, the memory is made up of two metallic films with an oxide between about 20 nm thick, with electrical resistance properties, that can send information from the satellites, allowing to study their behavior in these hostile environments.

AMSAT payload

Additionally, ÑuSat-1 carries a U/V linear transponder called LUSEX provided by AMSAT Argentina (AMSAT-LU) to offer services to the HAM community.

List of satellites

Although the satellites are officially named "ÑuSat", each satellite has a nickname, a tradition from Satellogic that dates back since its very first satellite Fresco.

Name1 Nickname COSPAR In homage to Launch date Launch vehicle Outcome Remarks
ÑuSat 1 (Aleph-1 1,
Lusat-OSCAR 87, LO 87)
Fresco 2016-033B Queso fresco (alongside Batata, they make the traditional Argentinian dessert "Fresco y Batata") 30 May 2016 Long March 4B Success First commercial small satellite from Argentina.
ÑuSat 2 (Aleph-1 2) Batata 2016-033C Dulce de batata (alongside Fresco, they make the traditional Argentinian dessert "Fresco y Batata") 30 May 2016 Long March 4B Success First commercial small satellite from Argentina.
ÑuSat 3 (Aleph-1 3) Milanesat 2017-034C Milanesa 15 June 2017 Long March 4B Success Nickname proposed by a Reddit user2
ÑuSat 4 (Aleph-1 4) Ada3 2018-015D Ada Lovelace4 2 February 201856 Long March 2D Success7
ÑuSat 5 (Aleph-1 5) Maryam3 2018-015K Maryam Mirzakhani4 2 February 201856 Long March 2D Success 7
ÑuSat 6 (Aleph-1 6) Hypatia8 2020-061A Hypatia 3 September 2020 Vega Success9
ÑuSat 7 (Aleph-1 7) Sophie10 2020-003B Sophie Germain 15 January 2020 Long March 2D Success11
ÑuSat 8 (Aleph-1 8) Marie10 2020-003C Marie Curie 15 January 2020 Long March 2D Success11
ÑuSat 9 (Aleph-1 9) Alice1213 2020-079A Alice Ball13 6 November 2020,
03:19 UTC
Long March 6 Success13
ÑuSat 10 (Aleph-1 10) Caroline1213 2020-079B Caroline Herschel13 6 November 2020,
03:19 UTC
Long March 6 Success13
ÑuSat 11 (Aleph-1 11) Cora1213 2020-079C Cora Ratto13 6 November 2020,
03:19 UTC
Long March 6 Success13
ÑuSat 12 (Aleph-1 12) Dorothy1213 2020-079D Dorothy Vaughan13 6 November 2020,
03:19 UTC
Long March 6 Success13
ÑuSat 13 (Aleph-1 13) Emmy1213 2020-079E Emmy Noether13 6 November 2020,
03:19 UTC
Long March 6 Success13
ÑuSat 14 (Aleph-1 14) Hedy1213 2020-079F Hedy Lamarr13 6 November 2020,
03:19 UTC
Long March 6 Success13
ÑuSat 15 (Aleph-1 15) Katherine1213 2020-079G Katherine Johnson13 6 November 2020,
03:19 UTC
Long March 6 Success13
ÑuSat 16 (Aleph-1 16) Lise1213 2020-079H Lise Meitner13 6 November 2020,
03:19 UTC
Long March 6 Success13
ÑuSat 17 (Aleph-1 17) Mary1213 2020-079J Mary Jackson13 6 November 2020,
03:19 UTC
Long March 6 Success13
ÑuSat 18 (Aleph-1 18) Vera1213 2020-079K Vera Rubin13 6 November 2020,
03:19 UTC
Long March 6 Success13
ÑuSat 19 (Aleph-1 19) Rosalind14 2021-059AC Rosalind Franklin14 30 June 2021,
19:31 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat 20 (Aleph-1 20) Grace14 2021-059AU Grace Hopper14 30 June 2021,
19:31 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success Decayed on 11 November 2023.
ÑuSat 21 (Aleph-1 21) Elisa14 2021-059AT Elisa Bachofen14 30 June 2021,
19:31 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success Decayed on 26 October 2023.
ÑuSat 22 (Aleph-1 22) Sofya14 2021-059AS Sofya Kovalevskaya14 30 June 2021,
19:31 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat 23 (Aleph-1 23) Annie Maunder15 2022-033M Annie Maunder15 1 April 2022,
16:24 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat 24 (Aleph-1 25) Kalpana Chawla15 2022-033X Kalpana Chawla15 1 April 2022,
16:24 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat 25 (Aleph-1 25) Maria Telkes15 2022-033Q Maria Telkes15 1 April 2022,
16:24 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat 26 (Aleph-1 26) Mary Somerville15 2022-033 Mary Somerville15 1 April 2022,
16:24 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat 27 (Aleph-1 27) Sally Ride15 2022-033R Sally Ride15 1 April 2022,
16:24 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-28 (Aleph-1 28) Alice Lee16 2022-057R Alice Lee 25 May 2022,
18:35 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-29 (Aleph-1 29) Edith Clarke16 2022-057AJ Edith Clarke 25 May 2022,
18:35 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-30 (Aleph-1 30) Margherita Hack16 2022-057S Margherita Hack 25 May 2022,
18:35 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-31 (Aleph-1 31) Ruby Payne-Scott16 2022-057W Ruby Payne-Scott 25 May 2022,
18:35 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-32 (Aleph-1 32) Albania-117 2023-001BH 3 January 2023,
14:56 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success First Albanian satellites, developed in collaboration with the Albanian government
ÑuSat-33 (Aleph-1 33) Albania-217 2023-001AQ 3 January 2023,
14:56 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-34 (Aleph-1 34) Amelia Earhart17 2023-001AN Amelia Earhart 3 January 2023,
14:56 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-35 (Aleph-1 35) Williamina Fleming17 2023-001AR Williamina Fleming 3 January 2023,
14:56 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-36 (Aleph-1 36) Annie Jump Cannon18 2023-054N Annie Jump Cannon 15 April 2023,
06:48 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-37 (Aleph-1 37) Joan Clarke18 2023-054AB Joan Clarke 15 April 2023,
06:48 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-38 (Aleph-1 38) Maria Gaetana Agnesi18 2023-054AA Maria Gaetana Agnesi 15 April 2023,
06:48 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-39 (Aleph-1 39) Tikvah Alper18 2023-054Z Tikvah Alper 15 April 2023,
06:48 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-40 (Aleph-1 40) Carolyn Shoemaker19 2023-084M Carolyn S. Shoemaker 12 June 2023,
21:35 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-41 (Aleph-1 41) Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin19 2023-084N Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin 12 June 2023,
21:35 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-42 (Aleph-1 42) María Wonenburger19 2023-084AL Maria Wonenburger 12 June 2023,
21:35 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-43 (Aleph-1 43) Rose Dieng-Kuntz19 2023-084AN Rose Dieng-Kuntz 12 June 2023,
21:35 UTC
Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-44 (Aleph-1 44) Maria Mitchell 2024-043AA Maria Mitchell 4 March 2024 Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-48 (Aleph-1 48) Henrietta Leavitt 2024-149AG Henrietta Leavitt 16 August 2024 Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-49 (Aleph-1 49) Klára Dán von Neumann 2024-149AJ Klára Dán von Neumann 16 August 2024 Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
ÑuSat-50 (Aleph-1 50) Nancy Roman 2024-149AB Nancy Roman 16 August 2024 Falcon 9 Block 5 Success
See also

See also

References

References

  1. "ÑuSat 1, ..., 98 (NewSat 1, ..., 98, Aleph-1 1, ..., 98)".
  2. "Tenes ganas de elegir el nombre del próximo satélite argentino? • r/argentina". reddit (in Spanish). 29 August 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  3. Kargieman, Emiliano [@earlkman] (4 August 2017). "Notice: satellite inside. Two more hit the road: Ada and Maryam soon taking their ride to LEO https://t.co/CklFZoAOP0" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  4. Jack, Federico [@fedejack] (4 August 2017). "@nwolovick @Juandedeboca @earlkman Si!" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  5. Satellogic [@Satellogic] (11 January 2018). "Next Feb 2nd we are launching 2 new satellites called Ada & Maryam. Be the first one to check… https://t.co/AC3wRZwKyn" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  6. Jones, Andrew. "China launches seismo-electromagnetic probe along with ESA, Danish and commercial CubeSats". GB Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  7. Satellogic [@Satellogic] (2 February 2018). "Sucessfull [sic] launch 🚀. Ada & Maryam are talking to us! 🛰🛰 #hayBeacons #adaymaryam #adalovelace #maryammirzakhani #satellites" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  8. Satellogic [@Satellogic] (3 March 2020). "Next March 24 at 01:51:10 UTC we are launching a new satellite called Hypatia. Take a look at our new mission patch. 🛰️🚀 #satellites #hypatia #satellogic https://t.co/RHfYYJEQ1B" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  9. Clark, Stephen (2 September 2020). "Vega rocket launches with 53 small satellites". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  10. @Satellogic (16 December 2019). "We are excited to announce the launch of two new satellites called Sophie and Marie on 15 January 2020 at 10:53 am Beijing Time. Take a look at our beautiful mission patch!" (Tweet). Retrieved 16 December 2019 – via Twitter.
  11. Clark, Stephen. "Argentine smallsats hitch ride with Chinese payloads on Long March rocket". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  12. "Ten Satellogic Earth-imaging satellites successfully launched". Spaceflight Now. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  13. Barbosa, Rui C. (6 November 2020). "Long March 6 lofts ten Argentinian satellites". Archived from the original on 16 November 2025. Retrieved 29 March 2026.
  14. "Satellogic Launches 4 Additional Satellites on SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket". Business Wire. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
    "NewSat (Aleph-1 Constellation)". eoportal.org. 6 January 2026. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  15. "Satellogic Launches Five Additional Satellites on SpaceX Transporter-4 Mission". Satellogic (Press release). 4 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  16. "Satellogic Announces Successful SpaceX Launch Of Four Additional Satellites". Satnews. 26 May 2022.
  17. "Satellogic's Aleph-1 constellation expanded with four smallsat deployments via the Transporter-6 rideshare mission". SatNews. 4 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  18. Lentz, Danny (15 April 2023). "SpaceX Transporter-7 launches 51 payloads, booster return to LZ". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  19. Lentz, Danny (12 June 2023). "SpaceX Transporter-8 launches 72 payloads marking 200th booster landing". Retrieved 15 June 2023.
External links