Session
Weekday Session 3: Science/Mission Payloads
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
We present a detailed analysis of an energetic electron injection (10s - 100s keV) observed at geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) on March 5, 2022 in order to highlight the capabilities of the Falcon Solid-state Energetic Electron Detector (SEED). The high time- and energy-resolution of SEED are used to quantify the dispersion of the injection front and to explore the morphology of the energy distribution throughout the injection encounter. Observations of the same event from nearby platforms are included for context. The SEED is a CubeSat compatible, single element particle telescope, designed to measure 14 to 145keV electrons in GEO. The flight payload has a volume of 10 cm x 10 cm x 20 cm, in a 4.3-kg, 3.4-W package. The SEED was manifested on the Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program Satellite—6 (STPSat-6) which was launched in December of 2021 to GEO at 112 W longitude. During the first year of mission operations, the SEED has demonstrated the ability, evidenced in this paper, or a low-resource particle detector comprised of predominantly commercial-off-the-shelf components to provide relevant science observations of the space plasma environment.
Analysis of an Energetic Electron Injection at GEO Using FalconSEED: A Low SWaP-C, CubeSat-Compatible Instrument for Space Environments
Utah State University, Logan, UT
We present a detailed analysis of an energetic electron injection (10s - 100s keV) observed at geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) on March 5, 2022 in order to highlight the capabilities of the Falcon Solid-state Energetic Electron Detector (SEED). The high time- and energy-resolution of SEED are used to quantify the dispersion of the injection front and to explore the morphology of the energy distribution throughout the injection encounter. Observations of the same event from nearby platforms are included for context. The SEED is a CubeSat compatible, single element particle telescope, designed to measure 14 to 145keV electrons in GEO. The flight payload has a volume of 10 cm x 10 cm x 20 cm, in a 4.3-kg, 3.4-W package. The SEED was manifested on the Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program Satellite—6 (STPSat-6) which was launched in December of 2021 to GEO at 112 W longitude. During the first year of mission operations, the SEED has demonstrated the ability, evidenced in this paper, or a low-resource particle detector comprised of predominantly commercial-off-the-shelf components to provide relevant science observations of the space plasma environment.
