ARTSAT1: Invader

ARTSAT1: Invader, the world’s first art satellite, blasted off into outer space on February 28, 2014. The Invader is cube-shaped; each edge is 10 cm long. It weighs 1.85 kg. It’s equipped with an Arduino-compatible computer that has enabled its ground control crew at Tama Art University in Tokyo to successfully carry out a series of artistic missions: the algorithmic generation and broadcast of synthetic voices, music and poetry, recording and transmitting image data, and communication with the ground control station by means of a chatbot program. The ARTSAT project was also part of the mission of the [SPACE x ART] − Beyond Cosmologies exhibition at the Museum for Contemporary Art in Tokyo. In an installation there, data and elements delivered by Invader were fragmented, and visitors were invited to reassemble them based on their individual preferences.

The Interactive satellite for Art and Design Experimental Research (INVADER) one-unit cubesat is an art project of the Tama Art University. It is the first mission of the "ARTSAT: Art and Satellite Project". The satellite will contribute to the amateur radio community from the art field’s viewpoint. The satellite features some sensors that provide data for use in artworks.