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Authors
  • Miles Timpe
Responsible
  • Miles Timpe
Last Updated10/12/2025, 12:48:54 PM
Last AuthorKai Berszin

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.

Launch, ascent, and deployment​

SAGE will be travelling to space as part of a ride share mission. SAGE personnel will, therefore, have no control over any aspect of the launch. However, SAGE MOPS personnel will be monitoring the performance of the launch vehicle in order to assess SAGE’s likely orbit once in space. The MOPS team will be reliant on data provided by the LP via the LPL to monitor the launch vehicle during this time.

Signal acquisition​

Once the LP has confirmed that SAGE has been deployed from the launch vehicle successfully, MOPS personnel will begin attempting to contact SAGE via the Zurich ground station. The time of the first overpass of Zurich will depend on several factors, including the date and time of launch, the type of launch vehicle, and the performance of the launch vehicle.

Using data from the LP, MOPS personnel will first predict the times of the first acquisition of signal (AOS) and loss of signal (LOS), which will constrain the most likely first overpass window and signal strength. Depending on the point at which SAGE was injected into its orbit and the number of participating ground stations (e.g., SatNOGS), it may happen that first contact with SAGE is achieved via a ground station other than Zurich. If this is the case, then MOPS personnel will use this external data to further constrain SAGE’s orbit and time of first AOS in Zurich.

Detumbling​

Once stable communication has been achieved with the satellite, the ADCS team will command SAGE to begin the detumbling process. The ADCS team will work with the MOPS team in the MOC to monitor this process until attitude control has been achieved.

Changelog

DateRevisionChange
2025/02/2101Initial commit.