Sapphire was launched on 30 September 2001 as part of the Kodiak Star mission, joining the PICOSat, PCSat and Starshine 3 satellites on a Lockheed-Martin Athena I rocket.  Sapphire was designed, built and tested by students in the Space Systems Development Laboratory at Stanford University; students and faculty in Washington University in St. Louis are responsible for pre-flight integration & test and also flight operations support; midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy will be the primary operators during its targeted one-year mission.  (Sapphire is still alive and kicking more than 2 1/2 years later!)

Sapphire's participation in the Kodiak Star mission is sponsored by the Department of Defense's Space Test Program.