Mission Phases
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| Last Updated | 10/12/2025, 12:48:54 PM |
| Last Author | Kai Berszin |
Pre-Launch Operations (PLOPS)
SAGE must be handed over to the launch provider (LP) approximately a month prior to the launch window. Therefore, the SAGE team will be dependent on updates from the LP during this time in order to assess the state of the satellite. Prior to launch, the mission operations (MOPS) team will, therefore, be focused on maintaining and testing the health of the hardware and software comprised by the ground station and mission operations center (MOC) in Zurich.
Launch and Early Operations (LEOPS)
During the launch and early operations (LEOPS) phase, the launch provider liaison (LPL) will monitor updates from the LP and relay these updates to the Flight Director (FD) in the MOC. The Public Affairs Officer (PAO) in the MOC will be responsible for relaying any relevant information to the SAGE team outside of the MOC and to the public.
Science Operations (SOPS)
The SAGE mission has two primary objectives, the first of which is to conduct a biological ex- periment onboard the payload subsystem. The goal of this experiment is to sustain a secondary human cell line in orbit under controlled conditions, as well as to perform a protein expression experiment using fluorescence microscopy. The experiment will be monitored using a microscope onboard the payload platform, whereby the resulting images will be downlinked over the S-band antenna to the MOC via the Zurich ground station.
In detail, the Payload team aims to investigate cellular senescence in a human cell line. For this purpose a secondary human cell line will be used: HBL-1 (Human AIDS-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma). The advantage of this cell line lies in its growth properties, being a suspension cell line (thus not needing previous seeding and easier manipulation using microfluidics) and having a relatively short population doubling time (in ideal conditions roughly 19 hours). In total there will be six different experimental conditions: each condition having one well containing HBL1-GFP cells and one well containing HBL1-miRNAGFP (miRNA-146a-GFP). Here miRNA-146a-GFP will be used as a marker for senescence.
Extended Operations (XOPS)
Following the completion of the primary mission objectives (i.e., SOPS and AGOPS), the mission will enter an extended operations (XOPS) phase. During XOPS, a range of secondary objectives will be pursued. Note that the following activities and experiments are not given in any specific order and maybe occur in parallel. The experiments undertaken during XOPS will be scheduled such that experiments deemed to pose the highest risk to the continued operation of SAGE will be conducted as close to the end of the mission as feasible.
End-of-Life Operations (ELOPS)
Simulations of SAGE’s orbit will allow the mission operations team to predict the approximate date of the satellite’s reentry and subsequent demise. Assuming that SAGE continues to operate and communicate up until this time, the mission operations team will enter a phase of extraordinary operations to monitor and confirm the end of the mission. In the MOC, the SAGE Flight Director (FD) will declare the official end of the mission and Public Affairs Officer (PAO) will communicate this determination to the SAGE team, the ARIS board, and the public.
Changelog
| Date | Revision | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2025/02/21 | 01 | Initial commit. |