S-CUBE (S&8323;)

Spacecraft nº:

Japanese spacecraft nº: 214

Launch data: Designation  40898 / 1998-067GY Launch date  19 Aug 2015 Launch site  Tanegashima, YLP-2 Launch vehicle  H-2B-304 Deployment date from ISS  17 Sep 2015 - 12:02 UT Mission  Astronomy Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  397 x 408 km Eccentricity   Inclination   51.6° Period   min

Description:

• S-CUBE is a partnership between Planetary Exploration Research Center of Chiba Institute of Technology (PERC/Chitech) in Narashino and Tohoku University in Sendai.
• The 3U satellite bus is developed on the base of the Raiko cubesat. It features 3-axis magnetic torquers and gravity-gradient stabilization by an extendible boom.
• The scientific instruments consist of a CCD camera inherited from SpriteSat and a Photomultiplier tube (PMT) for detection at ultraviolet wavelengths.
• The S-CUBE mission has following goals:
  • Detect UV emission from a meteor by PMT, which is used as a trigger of a camera (minimum success)
  • Take an image of meteor by a camera to estimate the meteoroid size from brightness (minimum success)
  • Obtain the flux (i. e., size distribution) of meteors (full success)
  • Estimate the compositions of meteors quantitatively from emission from species, such as sulfur (optional)