Watch SLU's Argus-2 Satellite Launch Into Orbit Wednesday

02/07/2020

The campus community is invited to join students and faculty from Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology Wednesday, Feb. 12, as the SLU-built Argus-2 satellite is launched into orbit from the International Space Station (ISS).

A watch party will be held in the rotunda of McDonnell Douglas Hall, beginning at 8 a.m. The launch is expected around 8:45 a.m.

SLU’s third spacecraft, Argus-2, was carried to the ISS in November on board a Northrup Grumman rocket.

The 4-by-8-inch, 6-pound Argus-2 is going into space as part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) program.

Argus-2 first takes on some of the original Argus mission; the satellite will fly with a commercial SD memory card, and SLU’s lab will be routinely checking it for errors.

The second objective of Argus-2 is to take a baby-step towards SLU’s next space project, called DORRE. DORRE will be a small constellation of two or more spacecraft and two or more ground systems (telescopes). AI techniques will be used to automatically detect and sense natural events, such as auroras, thunderstorms or meteors.