Science
CASSIOPE
Ionospheric Science / Data Relay · Canadian Space Agency / MDA
Right now
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Canada's CASSIOPE was the first commercial satellite launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, and it carries a science payload called ePOP that studies the aurora and upper ionosphere. When not doing science, its Cascade payload serves as a space-based store-and-forward data relay — like a data 'mule' passing messages between remote locations without a direct communications link. The CASSIOPE mission quietly proved both SpaceX's rocket reliability and Canada's ionospheric science in a single $100M package.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 180–408 mi (290–657 km)
- Inclination
- 80.9°
- One orbit
- 93.9 minutes15.3 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 39265
- Int’l designator
- 2013-055A
- Launched
- 2013
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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