SwissCube's longevity marks its success

Launched more than five years ago, the small Swiss satellite designed by EPFL and several other Universities of Applied Sciences, will soon have orbited the Earth 30'000 times. Against all odds, its systems are still fully functional. For the students who built it, it is a great testament to the quality of their work. This feat is the subject of an article in the latest issue of Flash . It was supposed to work for only one year. However, it has already been five since SwissCube orbits around the Earth. Launched in 2009, the Cubesat -a satellite model designed in the form of a cube of 10 cm per sideis still in good condition.