KITSUNE (Kyutech standardized bus Imaging Technology System Utilizing Networking and Electron content measurements) was a nanosatellite developed by the HAK consortium, which consists of Haradaseiki Kogyo, Addnics Corporation, and Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech).[2] The spacecraft was a 6U CubeSat, and carried a high-resolution camera for Earth observation.[3] KITSUNE was carried to the International Space Station (ISS) on board Cygnus NG-17, and was deployed from the ISS's Kibō Module on 24 March 2022 12:10 UTC.[2] The deployment service of KITSUNE was provided by Mitsui Bussan Aerospace.[2][4]

Mission

KITSUNE conducted several missions while in orbit, including observing Earth with a resolution of 5 m, and communicating in C band.[5] It also conducted store and forward, collecting data from ground-based sensor terminals.[6][7] Its optics was based on an smc PENTAX-DA* 300mm F4ED[IF]SDM lens.[8]

SPATIUM-II

In the SPATIUM-II (SPATIUM : Space Precision Atomic-clock TIming Utility Mission) mission, a UHF signal would be sent from ground stations, and KITSUNE's on board software-defined radio and Raspberry Pi computer would calculate the signal delay time. From the signal delay time, the integral value of the charge density between the satellite and ground station (total electron content) could be calculated. The SPATIUM-II mission aimed to demonstrate detecting signal delay time by an accuracy of 100 nanoseconds.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "KITSUNE". N2YO.com. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "国際宇宙ステーション・日本実験棟「きぼう」からの超小型衛星放出事業初のワイド6Uサイズ超小型衛星のJAXAへの引渡し完了及び打上げ予定について" (in Japanese). February 15, 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  3. ^ Oshiro, Takashi (2020). "高分解能カメラ搭載6U衛星「KITSUNE」の熱設計" (PDF) (in Japanese). Kyushu Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  4. ^ "History of deployed CubeSats". JAXA. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  5. ^ "宇宙産業技術情報基盤整備研究開発事業(軌道上実証事業)の概要 (中間評価)" (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  6. ^ "国立大学法人 九州工業大学 革新的宇宙利用実証ラボラトリー 年次報告書 第1号 Annual Progress Report 2020" (PDF) (in Japanese). Kyushu Institute of Technology. March 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  7. ^ "Introduction of the new LaSEINE". Kyushu Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  8. ^ PENTAXの望遠レンズが超小型衛星の眼となって宇宙へ (in Japanese). Ricoh Imaging. 11 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  9. ^ "OPERA Projectに関する研究紹介" (in Japanese). Kyushu Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2022-02-18.