MINISAT 01 as a scientific mission and its future

Abstract

In this contribution, the definition of Minisat 01 as a scientific missionis reviewed. Starting with a brief description of why small satellites areimportant for space research, some information about other programs of thesame kind follows. Then the attention is focused on the payload definitionof Minisat 01, its main characteristics and constraints which led to theactual flight configuration, still in orbit and providing valuable data.