A collaborative research group, led by Associate Professor Masaki R. Yamagata (Faculty of Chemistry, Materials and Bioengineering, Kansai University), Associate Professor Yoshihide Aoyagi (Headquarters for Innovative Society-Academia, University of Fukui), Associate Professor Kikuko Miyata (Faculty of Science and Technology, Meijo University), and ArkEdge Space Inc., has successfully launched and delivered the 10×10×10 cm (1U-sized) CubeSat “DENDEN-01” to the International Space Station (ISS).

DENDEN-01 was launched aboard NASA’s Dragon Cargo as CRS-31 on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, at 11:29 AM JST on Tuesday, November 5. DENDEN-01 arrived at the ISS at 11:52 PM JST. Based on JAXA’s official announcement, DENDEN-01 is scheduled to be deployed into space on Monday, December 9 at approximately 21:00 PM JST. 

■Key Points of This Announcement

• Delivery of DENDEN-01 to the International Space Station has been successfully completed.
• Deployment into space is scheduled for December 9.
• DENDEN-01 will begin demonstrating innovative energy technologies in the space environment.

■About DENDEN-01

DENDEN-01 is a 1U CubeSat selected for the “J-CUBE Program,” an initiative jointly organized by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the University Space Engineering Consortium (UNISEC) at the end of fiscal year 2021. The J-CUBE program provides opportunities for domestic universities and colleges to deploy CubeSats from the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” aboard the International Space Station (ISS). DENDEN-01 was selected for the 2021 Innovative Mission Proposal category.

DENDEN-01 features an on-orbit demonstration of various energy technologies and high-load missions, including a temperature stablizing device for power supply utilizing solid-solid phase change materials (SSPCM). This technology enables the storage or release of heat during changes in material crystal states caused by temperature fluctuations, contributing to future advances in the development of Nanosatellites, including CubeSats.

Additionally, ArkEdge Space Inc. will be responsible for managing communication between the satellite and the ground station. This will be achieved using a 3.9-meter parabolic antenna located in Shizuoka Prefecture, as well as a 3-meter parabolic antenna owned by Tokyo Denki University. Furthermore, the company will validate the functionality of its satellite-mounted 920 MHz-band compact low-power wireless communication system as a backup communication method. It will also conduct experiments to verify the store-and-forward technology, enabling the retrieval of sensor data from ground-based low-power wireless devices via the satellite.

■References

DENDEN-01 Deployment Live Broadcast (J-SSOD#30)

DENDEN-01 Project Official Website
https://denden01.kansai-u.space/en