Overview
- ATENEA, which wrapped up operations Thursday at 20:42 UTC, sent all planned telemetry to ground stations in Córdoba and Tierra del Fuego.
- Teams captured the first signal beyond 40,000 km and later sustained contact at about 70,000 km from Earth, the farthest ever for an Argentine spacecraft.
- The small satellite measured radiation, tracked how Argentine-built electronics performed, tested long-range radio links, and collected GNSS navigation signals well above normal satellite altitudes.
- CONAE led the build with UNLP, UNSAM, UBA’s engineering faculty, CNEA, the IAR, and VENG, and the CubeSat flew as a secondary payload on NASA’s Artemis II after stringent safety checks.
- Project engineer Facundo Pasquevich said schedules were so tight that even NASA doubted the team would finish on time, and he reported that only two of the four international CubeSats achieved working communications links.