KITSUNE (Kyutech standardized bus Imaging Technology System Utilizing Networking and Electron content measurements) was a
nanosatellite developed by the HAK consortium, which consists of Haradaseiki Kogyo, Addnics Corporation, and
Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech).[2] The spacecraft was a 6U
CubeSat, and carried a high-resolution camera for
Earth observation.[3] KITSUNE was carried to the
International Space Station (ISS) on board
Cygnus NG-17, and was deployed from the ISS's
Kibō Module on 24 March 2022 12:10 UTC.[2] The deployment service of KITSUNE was provided by Mitsui Bussan Aerospace.[2][4]
Mission
KITSUNE conducted several missions while in orbit, including observing Earth with a resolution of 5 m, and communicating in
C band.[5] It also conducted
store and forward, collecting data from ground-based sensor terminals.[6][7]
Its optics was based on an
smc PENTAX-DA* 300mm F4ED[IF]SDM lens.[8]
SPATIUM-II
In the SPATIUM-II (SPATIUM : Space Precision Atomic-clock TIming Utility Mission) mission, a
UHF signal would be sent from
ground stations, and KITSUNE's on board
software-defined radio and
Raspberry Pi computer would calculate the signal delay time. From the signal delay time, the
integral value of the
charge density between the satellite and ground station (
total electron content) could be calculated. The SPATIUM-II mission aimed to demonstrate detecting signal delay time by an accuracy of 100
nanoseconds.[9]
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ).
Cubesats are smaller. Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
