TRANSACTIONS OF THE JAPAN SOCIETY FOR AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE SCIENCES, AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN
Online ISSN : 1884-0485
ISSN-L : 1884-0485
f) Small Satellite
Operation Results of Cubesat RAIKO Released from International Space Station
Yuji SAKAMOTOYuta TANABEHitoshi YAGISAWANobuo SUGIMURAKazuya YOSHIDAMasanori NISHIOTomoyuki NAKAJOHiroaki AKIYAMA
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2014 Volume 12 Issue ists29 Pages Tf_7-Tf_12

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Abstract

The 2-unit size cubesat RAIKO is a nanosatellite developed by Tohoku University and Wakayama University. This paper shows the mission and system specifications. The satellite was released to space on October 4, 2012 from International Space Station, which was the 419-km alt. circular orbit. The techniques for 50-kg microsatellites by Tohoku University are transferred to this satellite, so a lot of functions are included although the power and mass budgets are strongly restricted. The primary missions are the photo storage by different 3 optical sensors, the de-orbit mechanism experiment by expandable thin films, and Ku-band downlink communication experiment. The satellite operation was finished by orbital decay on August 6, 2013. The telemetry data were successful received in total 123 passes, in which total 63 photo images were obtained and maximum 100 kbps (200 ksps) downlink was successful. Using color CMOS camera, gradually separating ISS could be confirmed. From analysis of house-keeping data, the solar generation power in sunshine was 3.38 W (no paddles) to 5.77 W (with paddles) in average, the temperature of onboard computer was in the range of 20.8 to 28.7 deg C, and the battery temperature was 4.2 deg C in average. The real flight data from the 10-month operation will be precious information for future nanosatellite projects.

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© 2014 The Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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