ALMASat-1 Launch Onboard the Vega Maiden Flight

ALMASat-1 is the first educational microsatellite entirely designed, manufactured and assembled in the Microsatellite Laboratory of the University of Bologna in Forlì. The research program started in 2003 with the design and assembly of an amateur-radio ground control station, now operational at VHF-UHF and S- bands since September 2003. Since then, all S/C subsystems have been designed, prototyped, tested; the flight hardware manufacturing and assembly phase started in early 2008, when a promising launch opportunity on-board the VEGA Maiden Flight arose, as a consequence of the opportunity offered to the ASI by ESA to fly an Italian scientific payload on the first VEGA launch. The LARES satellite, aimed at mea-suring the Lense-Thirring effect with an accuracy of 1%, through dedicated laser ranging measurements, was selected by ASI as the primary scientific payload, with a certain mass margin for additional small payloads. While ESA educational office called for European uni-versity proposals for a certain number of Cubsats to be embarked on the Maiden Flight, ASI offered to the University of Bologna the opportunity to fly ALMASat-1, on one side for the in-terest in the technological experiments to be carried out in orbit, but also for the warrantees of no delays on the overall VEGA Maiden Flight schedule, offered by the University of Bologna due to the advanced development status of the whole ALMASat-1 project. This paper provides an overview of the ALMASat-1 system, focusing on the final flight configuration and assembly and the integration of ALMASat-1 on the LARES System.