OPUSAT-II (COSPAR 1998-067SG, SATCAT 47930) was a
CubeSat developed by
Osaka Prefecture University
(OPU), also abbreviated to , is one of the largest public universities in Japan. The main campus is among big Kofun tombs in Sakai, Osaka.
The university will merge with Osaka City University to form Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) in A ...
and
Muroran Institute of Technology. OPUSAT-II was launched from
Wallops Flight Facility
Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and approximately north-northeast of Norfolk. The facility is operated by the Goddard ...
on 20 February 2021, and was deployed from the
International Space Station. The satellite was nicknamed HIROGARI, for a Japanese word meaning spread, or expand.
Spacecraft
The satellite's
satellite bus was based on the design of Osaka Prefecture University's previous satellite,
OPUSAT, which was launched in 2014. OPUSAT-II had a design life of five and a half months.
Mission
OPUSAT-II had two main missions. The first mission was to demonstrate high-speed data transmission in
amateur radio
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...
band. According to the project's website, the satellite communication system's design and the results of the experiment would be made public.
The second mission was a deployment of a large folded structure. A deployable plastic plate was stored inside the satellite, based on
Miura fold
The is a method of folding a flat surface such as a sheet of paper into a smaller area. The fold is named for its inventor, Japanese astrophysicist Kōryō Miura.
The crease patterns of the Miura fold form a tessellation of the surface by par ...
. The folding method that was tested in this mission took into account the thickness of the plate, unlike the traditional Miura fold. The satellite would optically measure the deployment using a pair of cameras.
The team proposes applying this folding method on
space-based solar power
Space-based solar power (SBSP, SSP) is the concept of collecting solar power in outer space by solar power satellites (SPS) and distributing it to Earth. Its advantages include a higher collection of energy due to the lack of reflection and ab ...
in the future.
OPUSAT-II decayed from orbit on 15 April 2022.
See also
*
RSP-01
RSP-01, nicknamed Selfie-sh was a nanosatellite developed by Ryman Sat Project. RSP-01 launched from Wallops Flight Facility on board a Cygnus spacecraft on 20 February 2021.
The satellite decayed from orbit on 10 June 2022.
Overview
RSP-01 wa ...
*
STARS-EC
STARS-EC (Space Tethered Autonomous Robotic Satellite Elevator of CubeSat, COSPAR 1998-067SE, SATCAT 47928) was a nanosatellite developed by Shizuoka University, for the purpose of demonstrating space elevator tether technology. It was a 3U-size Cu ...
*
WARP-01
WARP-01, nicknamed Nichirin, was a 1U-sized CubeSat developed and operated by Warpspace, a newspace company based in Tsukuba, Japan. It was launched on 20 February 2021 on board a Cygnus cargo spacecraft, and deployed from the International ...
References
External links
HIROGARI Project
{{Orbital launches in 2021
Satellites of Japan
2021 in Japan
Satellites deployed from the International Space Station
Spacecraft launched in 2021
Spacecraft which reentered in 2022