Name

QUAKESAT

Satellite ID

HSIF-3942-9654-8919-1112

NORAD ID

27845

Website

https://www.quakefinder.com/science/about-quakesat/

Country of Origin

United States of America

Launch Date

2003-06-30T00:00:00+00:00

The California company QuakeFinder has hopes for extremely low frequency electromagnetic waves ( ELF ), which seem to precede some earthquakes – and it is not alone: The Russian compass launched in December 2001 also carries a corresponding sensor. » Nobody knows if it works, « says QuakeFinder, » but you can't know if you don't try it. « The emission of the ELF waves could have something to do with the beginning of the breaking of crystalline rock, creating a plasma. If the project, which only costs around 1 million $, delivers convincing results ( that would be quickly confirmed by more precise ELF measurements on the ground ), a larger satellite could follow and the data sold. For example, weather services,which could then incorporate earthquake warnings into weather maps ... QuakeSat has the mass 10 x 10 x 30 cm. So it is a triple CubeSat to have a sufficient size for a magnetometer on a telescopic mast. The satellite was built in the Space Systems Development Laboratory at Stanford University under the direction of Professor Robert Twiggs. The receiver unit itself comes from QuakeFinder.