Earth Observation Using Japanese/Canadian Formation Flying Nanosatellites

Abstract

In 2006, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in cooperation with other Swiss academic and industrial partners started the SwissCube project based on the CubeSat program. The primary objective of the SwissCube project is to provide a dynamic and realistic learning environment for undergraduates, graduates and to foster the development of small satellite technologies. Besides the educational objectives, the SwissCube mission objective is to observe the airglow phenomenon (intensity) over selected latitudes and longitudes for a period of 4 months (possibly up to 1 year). The payload consists of a telescope which takes images of the airglow emissions. The telescope has a length of 50mm. At one end, a CMOS detector captures images with a resolution of 188 120 pixels and a pixel size of 24μm via a focusing optics. A bandpass filter centered at 767nm, with a bandwidth of 20nm, selects the desired wavelength of the airglow. At the other end, a baffle protects the optical system and the detector from straylight. This chapter describes the mission of the satellite and provides information on the Earth observation payload.