Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-1 is a mission to demonstrate various experimental devices and technology in space. It is the first flight in the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program, managed by the JAXA Research and Development Directorate. The mission includes several spacecraft, the largest being RAPIS-1, along with six smaller satellites. It was successfully launched on 18 January 2019.[1]
Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-1 is a mission purposed to provide a flight opportunity for technology and ideas put forward by universities and private companies. Payloads flown on the mission will be tested in space for a year, and the operational data gained will be given to the developers. According to JAXA, the goal of this program is to test high risk, innovative technology that will lead to the space industry gaining competitiveness in the international field.[2] The call for proposals was announced in 2015, and selection results were announced in February 2016.[3] A total of 14 projects were selected; however a proposal by IHI Corporation, the "Demonstration experiment of a innovative ship information receiving system"[3] was later dropped, making the number of projects reaching space 13. Seven projects will be tested on board the satellite RAPIS-1, either as parts or components. Three projects are flying as microsatellites, and three more as CubeSats. The Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-1 marked the first multi-satellite launch by Epsilon rocket.[4]
Project | Type | Agency |
---|---|---|
NBFPGA | Part | NEC Corporation |
HXTX / XMGA | Component | Keio University |
? | Component | IHI Corporation |
GPRCS | Component | J-spacesystems |
SPM | Component | J-spacesystems |
DLAS | Component | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
TMSAP | Component | JAXA |
Fireant | Component | Chubu University |
MicroDragon | Microsatellite | Keio University |
RISESAT | Microsatellite | Tohoku University |
ALE-1 | Microsatellite | ALE Co., Ltd. |
OrigamiSat-1 | CubeSat | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
Aoba VELOX-IV | CubeSat | Kyushu Institute of Technology |
NEXUS | CubeSat | Nihon University |
Mission type | Technology demonstrator |
---|---|
Operator | Axelspace / JAXA |
COSPAR ID | 2019-003A |
SATCAT no. | 43932 |
Website | www |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Axelspace |
Launch mass | 200.5 kg (442 lb)[2] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 18 January 2019, 00:50:20 | UTC
Rocket | Epsilon |
Launch site | Uchinoura |
End of mission | |
Deactivated | 23 June 2020[5] |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Sun-synchronous |
RAPIS-1 (RAPid Innovative payload demonstration Satellite 1) is a satellite within Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-1 that will demonstrate selected projects as either parts or components. Of the 13 projects, 7 will be demonstrated on board RAPIS-1. The satellite was developed by Axelspace Corporation, a startup company focusing on small satellite development and application, and is the largest satellite to date the company developed.[6] According to reports by Japanese media, the satellite was the first case for JAXA to contract a private company to manage the entirety of a satellite, from its development to its operation.[7]
MicroDragon is a microsatellite proposal submitted by Takashi Maeno of Keio University.[3]
Rapid International Scientific Experiment Satellite, or RISESAT is a microsatellite developed by Tohoku University. It is equipped with scientific instruments that were selected on an international scale.[13] The project RISESAT was selected for the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program to demonstrate highly precise attitude control and high resolution multispectral observation technology. RISESAT's high resolution multispectral camera will be capable of measuring the growth rate and health of crops from space.[14] RISESAT's remote sensing instrument, High Precision Telescope (HPT) utilizes a liquid crystal tunable filter.[15] The project was previously called Hodoyoshi 2.
ALE-1, also known as ALEe, is a microsatellite for demonstrating the creation of artificial shooting stars. Built and operated by ALE Co., Ltd., it is the company's first satellite. ALE-1 is equipped with a DOM2500 deorbit mechanism manufactured by Nakashimada Engineering Works, Ltd.[16][17] The DOM2500 is a membrane sail 2.5 m × 2.5 m large when deployed, and will be used by ALE-1 to lower its altitude to less than 400 km, the optimal altitude to conduct its main mission.[18]
OrigamiSat-1 is a 3U CubeSat demonstrating the deployment of large structures from a small, folded state. After being launched to an altitude of 500 km, OrigamiSat-1 will descend down to 400 km, where it will deploy a 1 square meter membrane.[19] It was developed by Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Aoba VELOX-IV is a 2U CubeSat equipped with a low-light camera. It was jointly developed by Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) of Singapore. The pulsed plasma thrusters developed by NTU gives the CubeSat maneuvering capabilities, a necessity for a future lunar mission, as the Moon's irregular gravity field requires orbiters to perform orbit maintenance to extend its mission lifetime.[20] It has a design lifetime of 12 months in low Earth orbit.[21]
NEXUS, short for NExt generation X Unique Satellite is a 1U CubeSat developed by Nihon University. An amateur radio satellite, it is equipped with a transmitter with half the power consumption and a data transmission rate per second 32 times larger than a traditional amateur radio transmitter. NEXUS will demonstrate packet radio in space.[22]
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