Tacheles (satellite)

TACHELES
OperatorNeurospace
COSPAR ID2026-069B
SATCAT no.68539Edit this on Wikidata
Spacecraft properties
Bus12U CubeSat
ManufacturerNeurospace
Start of mission
Launch dateApril 1, 2026, 22:35:00 UTC (6:24 pm EDT)[1][2]
RocketSpace Launch System (Artemis II)
Launch siteKennedy, LC-39B
ContractorNASA
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeHigh Earth orbit
Perigee altitude149 km (93 mi)
Apogee altitude70,256 km (43,655 mi)

TACHELES [ˈtaxələs] was a 12U CubeSat developed by the German company Neurospace launched on 1 April 2026 as a rideshare payload on NASA's Artemis II mission.[3][4] The satellite was designed to test lunar rover electronics in deep space, including radiation exposure in the Van Allen belts.[5][6]

Artemis II payload integration

Background

The mission was developed in Berlin by Neurospace, Germany, with support from Berlin Partner for Business and Technology and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The mission was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). An international agreement was signed between DLR and NASA to facilitate the mission.[7] The name is from the German Tacheles, "straight talk," which is itself derived from Yiddish תּכלית (takhles, 'purpose, result').[8]

Technology

TACHELES carried the SELDOM (Single Event Latchup Detection On Moon) scientific payload, consisting of three independent electronic units designed to study single-event effects and the potential use of commercial electronics in space applications, was developed by the Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena and the student association VESPE Jena e.V.[9][10] The payload tests a single-event latch-up protection circuit as well as algorithms for detecting and correcting single-event upsets.[11] The satellite also integrated electronics from the HiveR rover, which will be raised to an altitude of over 38,000 km (24,000 mi), passing through both Van Allen radiation belts. The data collected would provide insights into the radiation environment and help optimize rover electronics for future lunar missions.[12]

Timeline

The probe was handed over to NASA on 16 September 2025.[13] TACHELES and Artemis II launched on 1 April 2026.[14] The TACHELES mission was expected to last at least two years passing through the Van Allen belts on a regular basis.[15] Despite a successful deployment, ground stations were unable to establish communications with TACHELES.[16] The spacecraft was planned to fire its propulsion systems to raise its perigee and stay in orbit. However, it was not able to do so, and burned up in the atmosphere.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Artemis II Mission Availability PDF" (PDF). nasa.gov. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
  2. ↑ Clark, Stephen (February 21, 2026). "NASA says it needs to haul the Artemis II rocket back to the hangar for repairs". Ars Technica. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  3. ↑ Jones, Andrew (2025-08-20). "South Korea's K-RadCube radiation satellite will hitch a ride on NASA's Artemis 2 moon mission". Space. Retrieved 2026-01-16.
  4. ↑ "Artemis II: Scientific research during the mission". Canadian Space Agency. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  5. ↑ "Artemis II – small German satellite to fly to the Moon". DLR. 2024-09-18.
  6. ↑ "Paper information (101486) — IAF".
  7. ↑ "TACHELES from Berlin". Berlin Partner. 2024.
  8. ↑ "Moon mission: German innovations relating to the adventure in outer space". www.deutschland.de. November 28, 2024.
  9. ↑ Laudien, Torsten (2025-10-14). "Experiment aus Jena wird Teil der NASA-Mission Artemis II". Wirtschaftsspiegel Thüringen (in German). Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  10. ↑ "SELDOM". VESPE Jena e.V. 2025-01-28. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  11. ↑ "Team aus Jena entwickelt Experiment für NASA-Mission". Pro-Physik (in German). Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  12. ↑ "NASA to Fly International CubeSats Aboard Artemis II Test Flight". NASA. 2024-09-20.
  13. ↑ Viernstein, Christof. "NEUROSPACE hands over Satellite to NASA". Neurospace. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  14. ↑ "Berlin satellite goes to space". The Berliner. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  15. ↑ "Artemis II to launch for the Moon – with German and European tech on board". German Aerospace Center. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  16. ↑ Jaureguy, Martina. "Argentine microsatellite released in space during Artemis II mission breaks record". Buenos Aires Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  17. ↑ McDowell, Jonathan [@planet4589] (April 10, 2026). "Three of the four Artemis II cubesats were meant to fire propulsion systems to raise perigee and stay in orbit. Only one (Saudi Arabia's SWC-1) managed to do so; TACHELES and K-RadCube reentered the atmosphere at first perigee" (Tweet). Retrieved April 12, 2026 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  18. ↑ "TACHELES, 68539". SatCat. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.