Team gets management of divested ISEE-3 space explorer through crowdfunding

A team calling itself Space College has taken control of ISEE-3, a space explorer divested by NASA. The team secured the necessary funding to carry out projects with the satellite through crowdfunding.

The satellite was launched by NASA nearly 36 years ago with the aim of studying the interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field. NASA stopped using ISEE-3 in 1997, resulting in no contact with the satellite for about 17 years.

Although the battery would have run out a long time ago, there is still enough energy coming in via solar panels to perform all kinds of tasks. Meanwhile, Space College, which has taken over the management, has carried out the necessary tests to see whether the satellite can still be controlled.

Space College ran a crowdfunding campaign with the organizations SpaceRef and Skycorp on RocketHub, where the plans for ISEE-3 were also announced. Enough money has been raised, nearly $160,000, to develop tools to communicate with ISEE-3. From the first contact made with the satellite, it became clear that all scientific measuring instruments still work.

The first task of ISEE-3 is to position itself in the desired Earth orbit. Space College has received permission from NASA to communicate with ISEE-3 until June 25. During that time, the satellite must be successfully placed in the desired orbit around the earth. Space College hopes to continue its original mission after that. In addition, the team hopes to be able to track a passing comet from time to time with the satellite. That’s also what NASA did with ISEE-3 from 1982, having already completed its original mission.