FASat-Bravo is designed to monitor the destruction of the ozone layer above Chile. The sophisticated satellite will also take images of the Earth's surface and will carry an educational communications experiment for universities and schools in Chile. SSTL is a company owned by the University of Surrey , Guildford, UK and has pioneered very inexpensive yet powerful 'microsatellites' - only the size of a TV set and weighing just 50kg. FASat-Bravo will carry the same payloads and experiments and will be built, tested and made ready for launch by SSTL in just nine months.
More technical details are available on request.
SSTL will launch its first ' minisatellite' in December 1996. This larger spacecraft will weigh 300 kg and carry high resolution Earth imaging and advanced communications payloads whilst retaining low cost. The aim of SSTL is to make available to industry world-wide the results of the University of Surrey's research into cost effective space engineering and to attract funding for further developments. SSTL invests more than 1 million each year in satellite research.