Epsilon-5 rocket carrying nine satellites lifts off from Uchinoura Space Center

RAISE-3 | Epsilon PBS

Launch Window
(Subject to change)
October 12, 2022 – 00:50:43-00:55:11 UTC | 09:50:43-09:55:11 JST
Mission Name
RAISE-3 & others, Epsilon Flight #6
Launch Provider
(What rocket company is launching it?)
IHI Aerospace Co. Ltd (IA)
Customer
(Who’s paying for this?)
– Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
– Institute for Q-Shu Pioneers of Space Inc. (iQPS) (for QPS-SAR-3 and 4)
Rocket
Epsilon S Launch Vehicle
Launch Location
 Uchinoura Space Center, Kimotsuki, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
Payload mass
~280 kg (~620 lbs)
Where are the satellites going?
Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage?
No
Where will the first stage land?
It will crash into the South China Sea
Will they be attempting to recover the fairings?
No
Are these fairings new?
Yes
How’s the weather looking?
TBD
This will be the:
– 1st orbital launch attempt for Japan in 2022
– 6th flight of an Epsilon rocket
– 2nd flight of the Epsilon PBS variant
– 135th orbital launch in 2022
Where to watch
If an official livestream is available, we will post the link here!

What Does All This Mean?

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is launching RAISE-3 and 7 other payloads onboard an Epsilon rocket. A set of five CubeSats are flying alongside the main payload.

The primary payload for this flight is an on-orbit demonstration mission. It forms part of the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program which has been running since 2015. This is a 100 kg-class satellite that provides hosting for seven demonstration missions that are integrated onto the main RAISE-3 satellite. There is more information on this platform below.

Rideshare Cubesats:

Cubesat NameDimensions
MAGNARO10 x 10 x 34 cm
MITSUBA10 x 10 x 23 cm
KOSEN-210 x 10 x 23 cm
WASEDA-SAT-ZERO10 x 10 x 11 cm
FSI-SAT10 x 10 x 11 cm
Rideshare Cubesats flying with RAISE-3

RAISE-3 & others Mission

RAISE-3 (RApid Innovative payload demonstration SatellitE-3)

RAISE-3 missions (1 of 2) (Credit: JAXA)
MissionComponent NameOrganisationObjectives (summary)
On-Orbit Demonstration of 920 MHz band Satellite IoT Platform using Satellite MIMO TechnologyLEOMINippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT)On-orbit demonstration of Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (MIMO) telecommunication technology
Software Receiver using Flexible Development MethodSDRXNEC Space Technologies, Ltd.On-orbit demonstration of a high-speed flexible software receiver using a signal processing board with COTS parts
On-Orbit Evaluation of Commercial GPU and its Model-based DevelopmentGEMINIMitsubishi Electric
Corporation (MELCO)
On-orbit evaluation of commercial GPU enabling ultra-high speed computation.
On-Orbit Demonstration of Micropropulsion System using Water PropellantKIRPaleBlue Inc.On-orbit demonstration of micro-propulsion system using water as propellant.
On-Orbit Demonstration and Performance Evaluation of PulsePlasma Thruster for Micro-satelliteTMU-PPTAdvanced
Technology
Institute, LLC.
On-orbit demonstration of Pulse-Plasma Thruster, enabling low-power and low-cost small propulsion system using solid
propellant.
On-Orbit Demonstration of
Deployable Membrane Deorbit
Mechanism for Micro-satellite
D-SAILAxelspace CorporationOn-orbit demonstration of deployable membrane structure, aiming to increase atmospheric drag and orbital decay rate.
On-Orbit Demonstration of Lightweight Deployable Membrane
Structure with Power Generation and Antenna Function for Society 5.0
HELIOSSakase Adtech Co., Ltd.On-orbit demonstration of lightweight deployable membrane structure with power generation and antenna function.
On-Orbit Demonstration Missions Integrated onto RAISE-3
RAISE-3 missions (2 of 2) (Credit: JAXA)

The RAISE-3 platform is based on the previous RAISE-2 platform, with slightly modified specifications.

ItemSpecification(s)
Operational period– 1 month for Commissioning Phase
– 13 months for Nominal Operation Phase
Orbit– Sun-synchronous Orbit (initial)
– Altitude: 560km (nominal)
– Inclination: 97.6deg (nominal)
– Local Time Descending Node: 9:30 am
LaunchPlanned in Fiscal Year 2022
DimensionsApproximately 1 m x 0.75 m x 1 m
(Launch configuration)
MassLess than 110 kg
Power generation– More than 215W at BOL
– More than 180W at EOL
(Average power generation during sunshine
period)
Communication– S-band for telecommand: Uplink: 4kbps, Downlink: 64kbps
– X-band for mission data and stored telemetry. Downlink: 16Mbps
Storage8 GB
Attitude control– 3-axis stabilized
– Earth pointing for nominal attitude
Available resources to mission payloads– Mass: more than 23kg
– Power: 105Wh (BOL) and 62Wh (EOL) over one orbit period
– Data volume: 926.7MB per day
– Payload mounting area: more than 2.5m2

MAGNARO

This is a 3U sized package that splits into two satellites after deployment. One is 2U and the other is 1U in size. They are connected by magnetism until their separation. After separating, they will maintain formation flying between 2 km to 500 km distance from each other. Amateur radio operators will be able to use these satellites as repeaters for long-range communication.

MAGNARO (Credit: JAXA)

The satellites will be deployed into a Sun-Synchronous orbit at 550 km altitude. The combined mass of the two satellites is 4.4 kg. The name is abbreviated from “MAGnetically separating NAno-satellite with Rotation for Orbit control”. The satellites have been designed and built at Nagoya University.

MITSUBA

This satellites is described as “On-orbit degradation observation of COTS semi conductor for adding value to COTS database and On orbit demonstration of general USB device.” It has been built by the Kyushu Institute of Technology. The satellite has a mass of 1.7 kg.

MITSUBA (Credit: JAXA)

KOSEN-2

This satellites main platform is 11 cm x 11 cm x 23 cm, with a YAGI-style directional antenna which extends after deployment. It is designed to study deformation of the Earth’s crust under the sea floor. It makes use of dual reaction wheels to maintain attitude control. It takes observations using a combination of fish-eye camera lenses and magnetic sensors. It has been developed by a partnership between the National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), Yonago College, Gunma College, and other educational bodies.

KOSEN-2 (Credit: JAXA)

WASEDA-SAT-ZERO

This satellite is a technology demonstrator for 3D-printed satellites. Its aim is to have zero fixing screws, zero mechanical parts to be assembled together, and zero debris. This is achieved by 3D-printing the entire chassis as a single element.

WASEDA-SAT-ZERO (Credit: JAXA)

It will be used to conduct experiments regarding deployment of membrane surfaces which might be used as solar panels for power generation or solar sail for propulsion. It has been designed at Waseda University. The total mass of the satellite is 1.2 kg.

FSI-SAT

This is a 1U-sized, low cost satellite featuring a multi-spectral camera and on-board data processing system. It is designed to demonstrate that this technology can be deployed and operated at this small scale and at low cost. The satellite has a mass of only 1.4 kg. It is built by the Future Science Institute.

FS-SAT (Credit: JAXA)
FSI-SAT (Credit: JAXA)

QPS-SAR-3 and 4

QPS-SAR satellites are a set of small Earth observation satellites built by the QPS Institute (Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc.). They feature high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in the X-band portion of the radio spectrum. When fully populated, the constellation is expected to have 36 satellites in operation.

This pair of satellites are uprated in power generation and battery storage when compared with their predecessors, QPS-SAR 1 and 2, however those were prototypes. QPS-SAR 3 and 4 each have a 3.6 m diameter antenna (after deployment) which has a mass as low as 10 kg. It is able to resolve objects as small as 0.7 m (~2 feet) in size.

QPS-SAR-3 (Credit iQPS)

Epsilon Rocket

Epsilon is basically a three-stage vehicle using solid motors on all three stages, with an optional post-boost stage (PBS) which uses liquid monopropellant. This PBS, in use on this flight, is based on the monopropellant reaction control system used on the H-II (A/ B) rocket.

Length26 m / 85 ft
Diameter2.6 m / 8.5 ft
Total Weight96 t / 212,000 lbs
Overall Specifications
Epsilon S rocket (exploded view)
Epsilon rocket (exploded view) (Credit: JAXA)
Items1st stage
SRB-A3
2nd stage
M-35
3rd stage
KM-V2c
PBS1PLF2
Length (m)11.74.32.31.211.1
Diameter (m)2.62.61.41.52.6
Mass (ton)75.017.03.30.11.0
Propellant (ton)66.315.02.50.1N/A
Thrust (kN)2,27137298.80.4N/A
Burn time (s)116140901100N/A
PropellantSolid
HTPB3
Solid
HTPB
Solid
HTPB
HydrazineN/A
ISP (s)284300301215N/A
ControlTVC4
SMSJ5
(Solid thruster)
TVC
RCS6
(Thruster)
SpinThrusterN/A
Stage Specifications

1 – Post Boost Stage
2 – Payload Fairing
3 – Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene
4 – Thrust Vector Control
5 – Solid Motor Side Jet
6 – Reaction Control System

Flight Profile and Deployment Timeline

Step Description Time (h m s) Time (s) Altitude (km) Velocity (km/s)
1 Lift off 00 00 0 0 0.4
2 1st stage shutdown 01 48 108 70 2.3
3 fairing jettison 02 31 151 115 2.1
4 1st stage separation 02 41 161 123 2.1
5 2nd stage ignition 02 45 165 126 2.1
6 2nd stage burnout 04 54 294 202 4.8
7 2nd stage separation 06 30 390 237 4.7
8 3rd stage ignition 06 34 394 237 4.7
9 3rd stage burnout 08 02 482 232 7.9
10 3rd stage separation 09 54 594 235 7.9
11 PBS 1st start 16 33 993 277 7.8
12 PBS 1st shutdown 17 44 1,064 288 7.8
13 PBS 2nd start 41 24 2,484 554 7.5
14 PBS 2nd shutdown 50 46 3,046 572 7.6
15 RAISE-3 deployment 52 35 3,156 570 7.6
16 MITSUBA & WASEDA-SAT-ZERO deployment 1 06 30 3,990 570 7.6
17 PBS 3rd start 1 08 11 4,091 572 7.6
18 PBS 3rd shutdown 1 08 26 4,106 572 7.6
19 QPS-SAR-3 deployment 1 09 43 4,183 574 7.6
20 MAGNARO deployment 1 10 06 4,206 574 7.6
21 QPS-SAR-4 deployment 1 11 19 4,279 575 7.6
22 KOSEN-2 & FSI-SAT deployment 1 11 42 4,302 576 7.6

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