• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.51-60
• /
• 2020

This study designs and analyzes satellite formation flying concepts for the Small scale magNetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiments (SNIPE) mission, that will observe the near-Earth space environment using four nanosats. To meet the requirements to achieve the scientific objectives of the SNIPE mission, three formation flying concepts are analyzed: a cross-shape formation, a square-shape formation, and a cross-track formation. Of the three formation flying scenarios, the cross-track formation scenario is selected as the final scenario for the SNIPE mission. The result of this study suggests a relative orbit control scenario for formation maintenance and reconfiguration, and the initial relative orbits of the four nanosats meeting the formation requirements and thrust limitations of the SNIPE mission. The formation flying scenario is validated by calculating the accumulated total thrust required for the four nanosats. If the cross-track formation scenario presented in this study is applied to the SNIPE mission, it is expected that the mission will be successfully accomplished.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.81-103
• /
• 2022

In this paper, the contents of the design and development process of the 6U micro-satellite Snipe (SNIPE, national name Toyosat; small scale magnetospheric and Ionospheric plasma experiment ), which was developed to observe the near-global space environment through polarization flight for the first time in Korea, were described. Snipe performs transversal flight to observe the Earth's surrounding space environment in three dimensions, and aims to simultaneously observe the space plasma density and temperature in the ionosphere, as well as temporal changes in the solar magnetic field and electromagnetic waves. In this way, it was developed by dividing it into a test certification model (EQM) and a flight model (FM) to perform the actual mission for at least six months, away from developing a cube satellite for short-term space technology verification or manpower training. Currently, Snipe, which has completed the development of a total of four FM and completed all space environment tests, is scheduled to launch 2023. In this paper, we introduce the design contents and development process of the Snipe satellite body ahead of launch, and hope that it will be a useful reference for the development of 6U-class micro-satellite for full-scale mission in Korea.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.58.4-59
• /
• 2021

This presentation introduces Korea's SNIPE (Small scale magNespheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiment) mission, formation flying CubeSat constellation. Observing particles and waves on a single satellite suffers from inherent space-time ambiguity. To observe spatial and temporal variations of the micro-scale plasma structures on the topside ionosphere, four 6U CubeSats (~ 10 kg) will be launched into a polar orbit of the altitude of ~500 km in 2021. The distances of each satellite will be controlled from 10 km to more than 100 km by formation flying algorithm. The SNIPE mission is equipped with identical scientific instruments, solid-state telescope, magnetometer, and Langmuir probe. All the payloads have a high temporal resolution (sampling rates of about 10 Hz). Iridium modules provide an opportunity to upload changes in operational modes when geomagnetic storms occur. SNIPE's observations of the dimensions, occurrence rates, amplitudes, and spatiotemporal evolution of polar cap patches, field-aligned currents (FAC), radiation belt microbursts, and equatorial and mid-latitude plasma blobs and bubbles will determine their significance to the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction and quantify their impact on space weather.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.50 no.2
• /
• pp.127-135
• /
• 2022

Compared to the continuous increase of domestic nano-satellite development cases, the initial communication success rate is relatively low. In a situation where communication cases of LEO satellites using commercial satellite communication networks are increasing recently. In this situation, the SNIPE project developed by the KASI(Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute), KARI(Korea Aerospace Research Institute), and Yonsei University apply an Iridium module for communication test to the SNIPE nano-satellites. Therefore, in this paper, the visibility analysis of the iridium module on the SNIPE satellite was analyzed under considering the orbital and communication environment of the iridium satellite constellation and the attitude control mode. In the case of LEO satellites, the communication possibility was limited due to the relatively small iridium communication coverage for high altitude and the high doppler shift considered in the iridium communication network. For this reason, in this paper, it could be simulated that there was a more performance difference according to the difference in relative RAAN(Right Ascension of Ascending Node) angle with the Iridium constellation. Finally, by checking the visibility of communication module under the tumbling situation that occurred during the initial deployment of the nano-satellite, the possibility of using the iridium communication technology was analyzed.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
• /
• v.1 no.3
• /
• pp.319-336
• /
• 2021

This paper discusses the results of launch environment tests for the engineering qualification model (EQM) of nanosatellite Scale magNetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiment (SNIPE) for scientific missions and lessons learned for the design of nanosatellites. SNIPE is a group of four formation-flying 6U nanosatellites with a range of payloads for missions including space weather measurement. We developed the EQM to verify the preliminary design prior to fabricating the flight model. Launch environment test of EQM was conducted for the first time in 2019, and all failures were corrected and verified at the second test conducted in 2021. A notable point of the two tests is that the nanosatellite deployer used in the first test is different from that of the second test. The second deployer has the capability to fix the internal satellite whereas the first deployer just contains and deploys the satellite. Thus actual mechanical loads the satellite receives is reduced for the second test compared to the first test. This work compares the mechanical responses of two tests and proposes general guidelines for structural design of nanosatellites.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.104-120
• /
• 2022

The Small Scale magNetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiment (SNIPE)'s scientific goal is to observe spatial and temporal variations of the micro-scale plasma structures on the topside ionosphere. The four 6U CubeSats (~10 kg) will be launched into a polar orbit at ~500 km. The distances of each satellite will be controlled from 10 km to more than ~1,000 km by the formation flying algorithm. The SNIPE mission is equipped with identical scientific instruments, Solid-State Telescopes(SST), Magnetometers(Mag), and Langmuir Probes(LP). All the payloads have a high temporal resolution (sampling rates of about 10 Hz). Iridium communication modules provide an opportunity to upload emergency commands to change operational modes when geomagnetic storms occur. SNIPE's observations of the dimensions, occurrence rates, amplitudes, and spatiotemporal evolution of polar cap patches, field-aligned currents (FAC), radiation belt microbursts, and equatorial and mid-latitude plasma blobs and bubbles will determine their significance to the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction and quantify their impact on space weather. The formation flying CubeSat constellation, the SNIPE mission, will be launched by Soyuz-2 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2023.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.31-37
• /
• 2018

Pc1 pulsations are geomagnetic fluctuations in the frequency range of 0.2 to 5 Hz. There have been several observations of Pc1 pulsations in low earth orbit by MAGSAT, DE-2, Viking, Freja, CHAMP, and SWARM satellites. However, there has been a clear limitation in resolving the spatial and temporal variations of the pulsation by using a single-point observation by a single satellite. To overcome such limitations of previous observations, a new space mission was recently initiated, using the concept of multi-satellites, named the Small scale magNetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiments (SNIPE). The SNIPE mission consists of four nanosatellites (~10 kg), which will be launched into a polar orbit at an altitude of 600 km (TBD) in 2020. Four satellites will be deployed in orbit, and the distances between each satellite will be controlled from 10 to 1,000 km by a high-end formation-flying algorithm. One of the possible science targets of the SNIPE mission is observing electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves. In this paper, we report on examples of observations, showing the limitations of previous EMIC observations in low earth orbit, and suggest possibilities to overcome those limitations through a new mission.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.39.3-40
• /
• 2020

For the space weather research, KASI (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) is developing the SNIPE (Small-scale magNetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiment) mission, which consists of four 6U CubeSats of ~10 kg. Besides of space weather research, the SNIPE mission has another astrophysical objective, detecting Gamma-Ray Bursts(GRB). By cross-correlating the light curves of the detected GRBs, the fleet shall be able to determine the time difference of the arriving signal between the satellites and thus determine the position of bright short bursts with an accuracy ~100'. To demonstrate the technology of the GRB observation, CSI gamma-ray detectors combined with GPS and IRIDIUM communication modules are placed on each SNIPE CubeSat. The time of each spacecraft is synchronized and when the GRB is detected, the light curve will be transferred to the Mission Operation Center (MOC) by IRIDIUM communication module. By measuring time difference of each GRB signals, the technology for localization of GRB will be proved. If the results show some possibilities, we can challenge the new astrophysical mission for investigating the origin of GRB.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.40.3-41
• /
• 2017

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute The observation of particles and waves using a single satellite inherently suffers from space-time ambiguity. Recently, such ambiguity has often been resolved by multi-satellite observations; however, the inter-satellite distances were generally larger than 100 km. Hence, the ambiguity could be resolved only for large-scale (> 100 km) structures while numerous microscale phenomena have been observed at low altitude satellite orbits. In order to resolve those spatial and temporal variations of the microscale plasma structures on the topside ionosphere, SNIPE mission consisted of four (TBD) nanosatellites (~10 kg) will be launched into a polar orbit at an altitude of 700 km (TBD). Two pairs of satellites will be deployed on orbit and the distances between each satellite will be from 10 to 100 km controlled by a formation flying algorithm. The SNIPE mission is equipped with scientific payloads which can measure the following geophysical parameters: density/temperature of cold ionospheric electrons, energetic (~100 keV) electron flux, and magnetic field vectors. All the payloads will have high temporal resolution (~ 16 Hz (TBD)). This mission is planned to launch in 2020. The SNIPE mission aims to elucidate microscale (100 m-10 km) structures in the topside ionosphere (below altitude of 1,000 km), especially the fine-scale morphology of high-energy electron precipitation, cold plasma density/temperature, field-aligned currents, and electromagnetic waves. Hence, the mission will observe microscale structures of the following phenomena in geospace: high-latitude irregularities, such as polar-cap patches; field-aligned currents in the auroral oval; electro-magnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves; hundreds keV electrons' precipitations, such as electron microbursts; subauroral plasma density troughs; and low-latitude plasma irregularities, such as ionospheric blobs and bubbles. We have developed a 6U nanosatellite bus system as the basic platform for the SNIPE mission. Three basic plasma instruments shall be installed on all of each spacecraft, Particle Detector (PD), Langmuir Probe (LP), and Scientific MAGnetometer (SMAG). In addition we now discuss with NASA and JAXA to collaborate with the other payload opportunities into SNIPE mission.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.109-116
• /
• 2022

The small-scale magnetospheric and ionospheric plasma experiment (SNIPE) is a mission initiated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) in 2017 and comprises four 6U-sized nano-satellites (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute Satellite-1, KASISat-1) flying in formations. The main goal of the SNIPE mission is to investigate the space environment in low Earth orbit at 500-km. Because Iridium & GPS Board (IGB) is installed on the KASISat-1, a communication simulation is required to analyze the contact number and the duration. In this study, communication simulations between the Iridium satellite network and KASISat-1 are performed using STK Pro (System Tool Kit Pro Ver 11.2) from the AGI (Analytical Graphics, Inc.). The contact number and durations were analyzed by each orbit and date. The analysis shows that the average access number per day is 38.714 times, with an average of 2.533 times per orbit for a week. Furthermore, on average, the Iridium satellite communication is linked for 70.597 min daily. Moreover, 4.625 min is the average duration of an individual orbit.