Aalto 2 [Aalto University]
Official name AALTO-2
Alternative name Aalto-2
Cospar ID 1998-067MJ
Norad ID 42729
Launch date 1998-11-20
Launch site TTMTR
Launch vehicle Atlas-5(401)
Country/Organization Finland
Type application Technology, thermospheric research
Operator Aalto University
RCS size SMALL
Decay date 2019-02-06
Shape Box
Mass (kg) 2
Height (m) 0.2
Width (m) 0.1
Depth (m) 0.2
Span (m^2) 0.2
Lifetime 2 years
Contractors Aalto University
Equipment mNLP
Propulsion None
Configuration CubeSat (3U)
Power Solar cells, batteries

Aalto 2 is a 2U-CubeSat mission built by the Aalto University of Aalto, Finland.

Aalto 2 features a multineedle Langmuir probe (mNLP) for the QB50 project sampling the electron density of the space around it. Aalto 2 is built to the 2U-CubeSat standard.

The satellite was launched with the bulk of the QB50 constellation to the ISS in 2017, from where they were deployed. Aalto 2 operated for four days, when problems with the communication systems appeared, leading to the loss of signal soon after.

Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
AALTO-2 1998-067MJ 1998-11-20 TTMTR Atlas-5(401) with Cygnus CRS-7, ALTAIR 1, SUSat, UNSW-EC0, i-INSPIRE 2, ZA-AeroSat, nSIGHT 1, Ex-Alta 1, LilacSat 1, NJUST 1, Aoxiang 1, SOMP 2, QBITO, X-CubeSat, SpaceCube, DUTHSat, UPSat, Hoopoe, LINK, SNUSAT 1, SNUSAT 1b, qbee50-LTU-OC, BeEagleSat, HAVELSAT, Phoenix, PolyITAN-2-SAU, QBUS 1, QBUS 2, QBUS 4, IceCube, CSUNSat 1, CXBN 2, KySat 3, SHARC, Lemur-2 30, ..., 33