Wisseed Sat is a nanosatellite owned by Wisseed-the terra and built by Task and MASUYAMA-MFG. A satellite for education purposes, Wisseed Sat carries the milk teeth of around a dozen children, following the Japanese tradition of throwing one's milk tooth up towards the roof after they have come off to wish for the growth of the new tooth.[1] Wisseed Sat is planned to be launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will be carried to the International Space Station (ISS) on board the Cygnus NG-21 spacecraft.[2] Wisseed Sat will be deployed from the ISS on a later date.[1]

Wisseed Sat
Mission typeEducation
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeCubeSat
Start of mission
Launch date4 August 2024 UTC (planned)
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5
Launch siteCape Canaveral, SLC-40
Deployed fromISS Kibō
Delivered by Cygnus NG-21
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Inclination51.6°

Spacecraft

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Wisseed Sat was developed by Task and MASUYAMA-MFG. Task is a newspace company founded by Daisuke Furutomo, an engineer who was a member of team Hakuto which competed in the Google Lunar X Prize.[3] MASUYAMA-MFG is a company based in Tottori Prefecture and was in charge of manufacturing the spacecraft parts.[1] The spacecraft is a 10 cm size cube, or a 1U size CubeSat, and wighs less than 1.1kg.[2] After completion, Wisseed Sat was passed on to the Japanese space agency JAXA on 19 April 2024 to be launched by SpaceX.[4][1]

Mission

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Wisseed Sat carries the milk teeth of around a dozen children to space. In Japan, there is a custom for children to throw their own milk tooth up torwards the roof after they have fallen off, to wish for a healthy new tooth to grow.[1] Wisseed Sat is inspired by that tradition and will fly the teeth all the way to space, to wish that the children will accomplish big things once they have grown up. The satellite is part of Wisseed academy, an education program run by Wisseed-the terra. Wisseed-the terra is an education company based in Tokyo. According to Wisseed-the terra, 'Wisseed' is a portmanteau of wisdom and seed.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Yamauchi, Kouhei (August 2, 2024). "超小型衛星 地球周回へ". The Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  2. ^ a b "Wisseed Sat". NASA. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  3. ^ "民間資本で月面を目指す! 「HAKUTO」のメカエンジニアが語る日本のモノづくり". MONOist (in Japanese). November 20, 2015. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  4. ^ a b "乳歯と子ども達の夢を載せた「ウィズシー ド衛星」の引き渡し式を筑波宇宙センターJAXAにて実施 今秋にNASAケネディー宇宙センターから打ち上げへ" (Press release) (in Japanese). Wisseed-the terra. May 15, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
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