TRICOM-1R, also known as Tasuki (COSPAR 2018-016A, SATCAT 43201), was a Japanese

nanosatellite A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites ca ...

that was launched during the SS-520-5

sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to ...

test launch on 3 February 2018, with a mission to conduct

store and forward Store and forward is a telecommunications technique in which information is sent to an intermediate station where it is kept and sent at a later time to the final destination or to another intermediate station. The intermediate station, or node in ...

data relay and Earth observation using a set of cameras. Developed by the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project b ...

, the spacecraft was a low-cost 3U

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...

, with a goal of realizing future cost-competitive nanosatellites in the global market by using domestic commercial products. TRICOM-1R decayed from orbit 21 August 2018.

Overview

TRICOM-1R was built based on the 'Hodoyoshi Reliability Engineering' demonstrated by the

Hodoyoshi 3 Hodoyoshi-3 is a Japanese micro-satellite launched in 2014. The satellite is built in 0.5x0.5x0.65m box-shape bus, optimized for piggy-back launch. All instruments are powered by solar cells mounted on the spacecraft body and two stub wings, with ...

and 4 microsatellites. It was built by the University of Tokyo Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory, with funding allocated from the Japanese

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry The or METI, is a ministry of the Government of Japan. It was created by the 2001 Central Government Reform when the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) merged with agencies from other ministries related to economic activiti ...

. The

mission involved the satellite storing weak signal data from terrestrial terminals, and forwarding the data when the satellite flies above ground stations. TRICOM-1R also conducted Earth observation using its main camera and five sub cameras. The name of the spacecraft was partially based on the Japanese word , which means 'to take in', due to the store and forward nature of the mission.

Launch

TRICOM-1R was successfully placed into orbit on 3 February 2018.

TRICOM-1

TRICOM-1R was a re-flight of the TRICOM-1 CubeSat. On 14 January 2017 23:33:00, the SS-520-4 three stage sounding rocket was launched from

Uchinoura Space Center The is a space launch facility in the Japanese town of Kimotsuki, Kagoshima Prefecture. Before the establishment of the JAXA space agency in 2003, it was simply called the (KSC). All of Japan's scientific satellites were launched from Uchino ...

carrying TRICOM-1. 20 seconds after launch, contact was lost with the telemetry transmitter on board the rocket, and the command to ignite the second stage was not sent. The rocket then flew in a

sub-orbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...

trajectory, reaching a maximum altitude of approximately . TRICOM-1 is believed to have crashed into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

with its launcher. Despite loss of telemetry from the rocket, the satellite was automatically released from the rocket around the time it was scheduled to, and ground stations were able to briefly receive telemetry from the satellite.

References

External links

SS-520 4号機実験の実施について
- JAXA Press Release
SS-520-4
- JAXA Digital Archives

- Gunter's Space Page {{Orbital launches in 2018 Satellites of Japan University of Tokyo Spacecraft launched in 2018 2018 in Japan

Overview

Launch

TRICOM-1

See also

References

External links