QuakeTEC [APSS]
Official name APSS-1
Alternative name APSS 1
Cospar ID 2020-085D
Norad ID 46932
Launch date 2020-11-20
Launch site RLLC
Launch vehicle Electron KS (R)
Country/Organization New Zealand
Type application Science, ionosphere
Operator QuakeTEC, APSS
RCS size SMALL
Decay date 2024-01-30
Shape Box
Mass (kg) 1
Height (m) 0.1
Width (m) 0.1
Depth (m) 0.1
Lifetime 1 year
Contractors APSS
Equipment Langmuir probe
Propulsion None
Power Solar cells, batteries

APSS 1 or QuakeTEC, also named Te Waka Āmiorangi o Aotearoa, is an 1U CubeSat developed by the University of Auckland's APSS (Auckland Programme for Space Systems) to test, if ionospheric disturbances can be used to predict earth quakes.

The QuakeTEC satellite carries a Langmuir probe and will measure the electron density in the ionosphere to determine the feasibility of detecting earthquakes in advance. The students will be using their satellites to investigate a debated theory, that seismic activity in the earth?s crust creates signatures in the ionosphere, a region of the atmosphere between 60 to a thousand kilometers above the earth?s surface.

The satellite was launched in late 2020 (delayed from late 2018) by an Electron KS (R) rocket.

Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
APSS-1 2020-085D 2020-11-20 RLLC Electron KS (R) with Dragracer A, Dragracer B, BRO 2, BRO 3, Mandrake 1, SpaceBEE 22, ..., 39, SpaceBEENZ 1, ..., 6, Gnome Chompski