UoSAT-1: a review of orbital operations and results

UoSAT-1 was launched in 1981 into a low Earth polar orbit, controlled by the groundstation at the University of Surrey and supporting a worldwide community of experimenters. Still operational after six years in orbit, UoSAT-1 has experienced operational problems which have been overcome through imaginative use of the extremely flexible spacecraft system architecture. These problems and their solution, as well as the successes—since more of value is often learned from adversity than immediate success—are described.