RAAF M2 Pathfinder [UNSW]
Official name M2 PATHFINDER
Alternative name RAAF M2 Pathfinder
Cospar ID 2020-037E
Norad ID 45727
Launch date 2020-06-13
Launch site RLLC
Launch vehicle Electron KS
Country/Organization Australia
Type application Technology
Operator Australian Defence Force Academy, Royal Australian Air Force
RCS size SMALL
Decay date ON ORBIT
Period (min) 96.21
Inclination (deg) 97.77
Perigee (km) 570
Apogee (km) 584
Eccentricity 0.0121317157712305
Mean motion (revs. per day) 14.9672591206735
Semi-Major axis (km) 6955.135
Raan (deg) 307.4026
Arg of perigee (deg) 249.3033
Shape Box
Mass (kg) 4
Height (m) 0.3
Width (m) 0.1
Depth (m) 0.1
Contractors University of New South Wales
Propulsion None
Configuration CubeSat (3U)
Power Solar cells, batteries

RAAF M2 Pathfinder is an Australian 3U-CubeSat designed and built by University of New South Wales for the Australian Defence Force Academy, Royal Australian Air Force as a risk reduction mission for the RAAF M2 mission.

The mission is to test home grown communications architecture and other satellite technologies, which will assist in informing the future space capabilities of Australia. M2 Pathfinder was designed, assembled and tested in just 10 months

The satellite was launched on 13 June 2020 on a shared Electron KS launch.

Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
M2 PATHFINDER 2020-037E 2020-06-13 RLLC Electron KS with ANDESITE Mule, ANDESITE Node 1, ..., 8, USA 301, USA 302, USA 303