Mission type Technology Rocket Minotaur I Reference system Geocentric Launch date 19 May 2009 | Spacecraft type 1U CubeSat Launch site MARS LP-0B Regime Low Earth Decay date 6 October 2011 | |
Operator California Polytechnic State University Similar PharmaSat, Nanosat‑1B, Progress M‑66, ITUpSAT1, TacSat‑3 | ||
CP6, also known as PolySat-6, PolySat CP-6 or CalPoly 6 is a single-unit CubeSat which was built and operated by the California Polytechnic State University. It was primarily intended to perform a technology demonstration mission. The main experiment consisted of sensors to determine the spacecraft's attitude. Cameras on the satellite will be used to verify the data returned by the attitude sensors. Originally built as a backup to CP3, which was launched in April 2007, CP6 was modified after it was decided that it would no longer be needed for that role.
In addition to the attitude determination experiment, CP6 also planned to test a system to collect electrons for the United States Naval Research Laboratory as part of research into electrodynamic propulsion. The electron collector will be deployed once the primary mission, the attitude determination experiment, has been completed.
It was successfully launched on an Orbital Sciences Corporation Minotaur I rocket from Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, at 23:55 GMT on 19 May. It will be a tertiary payload, with TacSat-3 as the primary payload and PharmaSat as the secondary. Two other CubeSats, AeroCube 3 and HawkSat I, were also launched on the same rocket, and together the three satellites were known as the CubeSat Technology Demonstration mission.
The satellite reentered earth atmosphere on Oct 6th 2011.