Communication problems for recently-launched small satellites

NASA is having trouble tracking down two of its spacecraft. One of the TRACERS spacecraft has lost contact with Earth while the Athena EPIC satellite failed to send an important beacon signal.

Both were launched on July 23 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Communicating with both has, thus far, proven a challenge for controllers.

The TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) SV1 spacecraft, one of a pair of vehicles launched to study how the Sun interacts with the Earth's magnetic field, began having issues with its power system on July 25, which resulted in a loss of communication. Engineers believe the problem is a lack of sunlight on the solar panels and hope that later in August, when more sunlight reaches the arrays, they can reestablish contact and diagnose the problem.

The other TRACERS spacecraft, imaginatively called Space Vehicle 2 (SV2), is in good health and engineers have started the commissioning process.

The TRACERS satellites are slightly larger than washing machines and orbit the Earth at the North and South poles. The duo is designed to fly in tandem, with one trailing the other in orbit by around two minutes (although sometimes as close as 10 seconds). The orbit itself is relatively low at around 360 miles above the Earth.

Two spacecraft mean that scientists will be able to observe changing patterns rapidly, but, as of right now, only one appears to be functioning.

The borked TRACERS spacecraft is not alone. The same Falcon 9 launch included the Athena EPIC (Economical Payload Integration Cost), a pathfinder for a scalable satellite design to support future missions through partnerships. The plan is that the satellite platform will be able to share resources among multiple payloads, meaning that those individual payloads can focus on their core missions.

The problem is that, according to NASA, "the small satellite has yet to send an expected beacon signal to help track its orbit." This is making communication difficult. The US space agency noted that it has received some signals and teams were "investigating received signals to positively confirm the location of Athena EPIC and its operational status."

"The team is also working to determine the cause of the initial missed signal acquisition and any factors that may have contributed to the delayed communication downlinks."

NASA reported the communication problems after it finally gave up trying to contact the Lunar Trailblazer probe, which is missing and presumed lost. ®