NEE-01 PEGASO

The NEE-01 PEGASO is Ecuador’s first satellite, launched on April 25, 2013. Its first video transmission was captured on May 5, 2013. On May 23, 2013, the NEE-01 PEGASO suffered an orbital anomaly causing loss of attitude and physical damage after a close encounter with object SCC-15890. The exact cause of this anomaly remains unknown. Despite the damage, NEE-01 survived and continued to orbit. Due to the problem, its antenna could not point correctly and stably towards the ground station, making its signal undecodable, though it continued to transmit. The Ecuadorian Civil Space Agency worked tirelessly to stabilize NEE-01 and recover its signal. On January 25, 2014, its signal was recovered by NEE-02 KRYSAOR. NEE-02 KRYSAOR, equipped with a micro-repeater and special antennas, forms the PERSEO module, which retransmits NEE-01’s signal when they fly in parallel within a 2000km range at 650km altitude. NEE-01 PEGASO transmitted its signal to the world via EarthCam for 7 days, allowing millions to see Earth from space in real-time. On April 25, 2014, NEE-01 PEGASO completed its one-year mission and remains operational in orbit, with re-entry expected in 2023.