The primary objective of the Radio Aurora Explorer mission is to study plasma instabilities that lead to magnetic field aligned irregularities of electron density in the lower polar ionosphere (80–400 km). These irregularities are known to disrupt communication and navigation signals. The Radio Aurora Explorer mission uses a bistatic radar configuration; the spacecraft is the radar receiver and the transmitters are several worldwide incoherent scatter radars of which the primary radar is located in Poker Flat, Alaska. The satellites are 3 kg, university-class CubeSats with a primary payload of a direct-conversion radar receiver operating in the frequency range from 426 to 510 MHz. The satellite bus has a novel configuration of processing, attitude control, and antenna design that met the physical constraints of the CubeSat form factor and the one-year schedule constraint imposed by launch dates. Two satellites have launched: RAX-1 on 19 November 2010 onboard a Minotaur-IV rocket from Kodiak, Alaska, and RAX-2 on 28 October 2011 onboard a Delta-II rocket from Vandenberg U.S. Air Force Base, California. RAX-2 has detected and measured irregularities during multiple experiments over Alaska and Canada. Preliminary analysis indicates unprecedented characterization of the irregularities.
Radio Aurora Explorer: A Mission Overview
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets ; 51 , 1 ; 39-47
2013-06-25
9 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Radio Aurora Explorer: A Mission Overview
Online Contents | 2014
|GPS Results for the Radio Aurora Explorer II CubeSat Mission
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2013
|The Radio Aurora Explorer - A Bistatic Radar Mission to Measure Space Weather Phenomenon
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2010
|Initial Flight Assessment of the Radio Aurora Explorer
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2011
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