Slovakia’s first satellite was successfully launched into orbit on June 23, 2017 amid tension and fanfare, with the device successfully sending its first signal back to Earth later that same day. By all accounts it was a triumph. The critics fell silent and the Slovak Organisation for Space Activities (SOSA) began sifting through a vast bounty of useful data being received.



But then something went wrong.



After two weeks in orbit a problem occurred, sending the team into “damage control” to fight both technical problems and a growing swell of new criticism.



So what actually happened? Is the mission a failure? Most importantly, can it be fixed? In this full-length feature, Gavin Shoebridge sat down with Dr Michaela Musilová, head of SOSA, to look at the past, present and future of the skCUBE; Slovakia’s first satellite.



What happened to the skCUBE satellite

Máte problém s prehrávaním? Nahláste nám chybu v prehrávači.

Gavin Shoebridge, Photo: SOSA