Kourou - The latest Slovenian satellite to be sent into space, the Trisat-R, has been delivered from Maribor to French Guiana, where it is scheduled to be launched on the VEGA-C rocket on 7 July. Its main purpose are measurements of ionising radiation in the medium Earth orbit to model the magnetospheric environment and better understand space weather.

The main contractor behind Trisat-R, coming after Trisat and Nemo HD were launched into space as the first Slovenian satellites in September 2020, is Maribor's Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

The faculty executed the project on the basis of a contract with the European Space Agency and in cooperation with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) as well as the Slovenian space technology company Skylabs.

"This is an extremely risky mission into the heart of the ionosphere in medium Earth orbits at an altitude of 6,000 kilometres, or into an environment with extremely elevated ionising radiation," reads Tuesday's press release by the Maribor University.

The first flight of the VEGA-C launch vehicle will also bring the first nanosatellites into space in the medium Earth orbit.

"This time, Slovenians share this remarkable step for humanity with only two leading European space-faring nations, the French and the Italians. This step will give Slovenians a small but eternal monument in space," the university added.

The Trisat-R satellite is based on a platform with an extremely high degree of miniaturisation and is designed, engineered and manufactured entirely in Slovenia. With a weight of 4,965 grams and a size of 30 by 10 by 10 centimetres, it belongs to the class of nanosatellites with a standard size of three units.

"On board the Trisat-R satellite are a host of novelties and technological innovations whose demonstrated performance in space will enable Slovenian companies to consolidate their position and status in the space technology market," said project manager Iztok Kramberger.