Space Technology 5

Space Technology 5
	Artist's rendering of the "string of pearls" satellite constellation
Operator	NASA / GSFC
COSPAR ID	2006-008A through 2006-008C
SATCAT no.	28980 through 28982
Website	nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/st5
Mission duration	18 years, 5 months and 12 days ; (in orbit)
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	UCLA; Kennedy Space Center; New Mexico State University Physical Science Laboratory
Launch mass	25 kilograms (55 lb)
Power	≈20–25 W @ 9–10 V
End of mission
Deactivated	June 30, 2006
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Sun synchronous
Eccentricity	0.239
Perigee altitude	300 km (190 mi)
Apogee altitude	4,500 km (2,800 mi)
Inclination	105.6°
Transponders
Band	X-Band
Bandwidth	1 Kbps / 1 or 100 Kbps

Space Technology 5 (ST5) of the NASA New Millennium program was a test of ten new technologies aboard a group of microsatellites. Developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the three individual small spacecraft were launched together from the belly of a Lockheed L-1011 aboard the Pegasus XL rocket, on 22 March 2006. One technology involved antennas that were designed by computers using an evolutionary AI system developed at NASA Ames Research Center.^[2] The ST5 on-board flight computer, the C&DH (Command & Data Handling) system, was based on a Mongoose-V radiation-hardened microprocessor.

On 30 June 2006 the satellites making up ST5 were shut down after successfully completing their technology validation mission.^[3]

^ "ST5 Quick Facts". nmp.jpl.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 2006-01-18.
^ "Evolutionary Design of an X-Band Antenna for NASA's Space Technology 5 Mission" (PDF). ti.arc.nasa.gov. NASA. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-18.
^ "ST5 Mission". nasa.gov. NASA. December 20, 2007.