The Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program is a series of spacecraft missions for testing technology and ideas put forward by universities and private companies. The program demonstrates various experimental devices and technology in space by providing flight opportunities. It is managed by the JAXA Research and Development Directorate. 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.[1]
Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-1 is the first mission in the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program. The mission included several spacecraft, the largest being RAPIS-1, along with six smaller satellites. The call for proposals was announced in 2015, and selection results were announced in February 2016.[2] A total of 14 projects were selected; however a proposal by IHI Corporation, the "Demonstration experiment of a innovative ship information receiving system" was later dropped,[2] 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.
Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-1 was successfully launched on 18 January 2019.[3] Payloads flown on the mission were tested in space for a year, and the operational data gained were given to the developers.The Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-1 marked the first multi-satellite launch by Epsilon launch vehicle.[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 |
RAPIS-1 (RAPid Innovative payload demonstration Satellite-1) is a satellite within Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-1 that demonstrated selected projects as either parts or components. Of the 13 projects, 7 were demonstrated on board RAPIS-1.
MicroDragon is a microsatellite proposal submitted by Takashi Maeno of Keio University.[2]
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.[5] 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.[6] RISESAT's remote sensing instrument, High Precision Telescope (HPT) utilizes a liquid crystal tunable filter.[7] 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.[8][9] The DOM2500 is a membrane sail 2.5 m × 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in × 8 ft 2 in) large when deployed, and will be used by ALE-1 to lower its altitude to less than 400 km (250 mi), the optimal altitude to conduct its main mission.[10]
OrigamiSat-1 (COSPAR 2019-003B, SATCAT 43933) was a 3U CubeSat developed by Tokyo Institute of Technology to demonstrate the deployment of large structures from a small, folded state. After being launched to an altitude of 500 km (310 mi), OrigamiSat-1 was designed to descend down to 400 km (250 mi), where it would deploy a 1-m2 membrane.[11] The satellite decayed from orbit on 30 April 2022.[12]
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.[13] It has a design lifetime of 12 months in low Earth orbit.[14]
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.[15]
The call for proposals for Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-2, the second mission of the program, was announced in July 2018, and selection results were announced in December of the same year.[16] There are nine satellites launching on this mission: the RAISE-2 smallsat, four microsatellites and four CubeSats. The microsatellites HIBARI, Z-Sat and DRUMS are primarily for engineering tests. TeikyoSat-4, which was additionally selected in 2020, will conduct life science studies. The four CubeSats are ASTERISC, ARICA, NanoDragon and KOSEN-1.
| Project | Type | Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Rapid Innovative Payload Demonstration Satellite-2 (RAISE-2) | ||
| SPR | Instrument | Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation |
| I-FOG | Instrument | Tamagawa Seiki Co.,Ltd. |
| ASC | Instrument | Amanogi, Corp. |
| 3D-ANT | Instrument | Mitsubishi Electric |
| ATCD | Instrument | Tohoku University |
| MARIN | Instrument | JAXA |
| Microsatellite | ||
| HIBARI | Microsatellite | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
| Z-Sat | Microsatellite | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| DRUMS | Microsatellite | Kawasaki Heavy Industries |
| TeikyoSat-4 (Ooruri) | Microsatellite | Teikyo University |
| CubeSat | ||
| ASTERISC | CubeSat | Chiba Institute of Technology |
| ARICA | CubeSat | Aoyama Gakuin University |
| NanoDragon | CubeSat | Meisei Electric |
| KOSEN-1 | CubeSat | National Institute of Technology, Kochi College |
Proposals for the third mission were selected in May 2020.[17] It is planned to be launched in October 2022.[18]
| Project | Agency |
|---|---|
| Rapid Innovative Payload Demonstration Satellite-3 (RAISE-3) | |
| LEOMI | Nippon Telegraph and Telephone |
| SDRX | NEC Space Technologies, Ltd. |
| GEMINI | Mitsubishi Electric |
| KIR | Pale Blue |
| TMU-PPT | Advanced Technology Institute |
| D-SAIL | Axelspace |
| HELIOS | Sakase Adtech Co., Ltd. |
| Microsatellite | |
| KOYOH | Kanazawa University |
| PETREL | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
| STARS-X | Shizuoka University |
| CubeSat | |
| MAGNARO | Nagoya University |
| MITSUBA | Kyushu Institute of Technology |
| KOSEN-2 | National Institute of Technology, Yonago College |
| WASEDA-SAT-ZERO | Waseda University |
| FSI-SAT | Future Science Institute |
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