CuRIOS-ED: The Technology Demonstrator for the CubeSats for Rapid Infrared and Optical Surveys Mission

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Main Authors: Gulick, Hannah, Lu, Jessica R., Sood, Aryan, Beckwith, Steven V. W., Claveau, Charles-Antoine, Bloom, Joshua S., Rider, Kodi, Werthimer, Dan, Liu, Wei, Nir, Guy, Lee, Harrison, McCauley, Jeremy
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Gulick, Hannah
Lu, Jessica R.
Sood, Aryan
Beckwith, Steven V. W.
Claveau, Charles-Antoine
Bloom, Joshua S.
Rider, Kodi
Werthimer, Dan
Liu, Wei
Nir, Guy
Lee, Harrison
McCauley, Jeremy
author_facet Gulick, Hannah
Lu, Jessica R.
Sood, Aryan
Beckwith, Steven V. W.
Claveau, Charles-Antoine
Bloom, Joshua S.
Rider, Kodi
Werthimer, Dan
Liu, Wei
Nir, Guy
Lee, Harrison
McCauley, Jeremy
contents The rise of time-domain astronomy including electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational waves, gravitational microlensing, explosive phenomena, and even astrometry with Gaia, are showing the power and need for surveys with high-cadence, large area, and long time baselines to study the transient universe. A constellation of SmallSats or CubeSats providing wide, instantaneous sky coverage down to 21 Vega mag at optical wavelengths would be ideal for addressing this need. We are assembling CuRIOS-ED (CubeSats for Rapid Infrared and Optical Survey--Exploration Demo), an optical telescope payload which will act as a technology demonstrator for a larger constellation of several hundred 16U CubeSats known as CuRIOS. In preparation for CuRIOS, CuRIOS-ED will launch in late 2025 as part of the 12U Starspec InspireSat MVP payload. CuRIOS-ED will be used to demonstrate the StarSpec ADCS pointing capabilities to <1" and to space-qualify a commercial camera package for use on the full CuRIOS payload. The CuRIOS-ED camera system will utilize a Sony IMX455 CMOS detector delivered in an off-the-shelf Atik apx60 package which we modified to be compatible with operations in vacuum as well as the CubeSat form factor, power, and thermal constraints. By qualifying this commercial camera solution, the cost of each CuRIOS satellite will be greatly decreased (~100x) when compared with current space-qualified cameras with IMX455 detectors. We discuss the CuRIOS-ED mission design with an emphasis on the disassembly, repackaging, and testing of the Atik apx60 for space-based missions. Characterization of the apx60's read noise, dark current, patterned noise, and thermal behavior are reported for a range of temperatures (-35 C to 40 C) and exposure times (0.001s to 30 s). Additionally, we comment on preliminary environmental testing results from a successful thermal vacuum test.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_11471
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle CuRIOS-ED: The Technology Demonstrator for the CubeSats for Rapid Infrared and Optical Surveys Mission
Gulick, Hannah
Lu, Jessica R.
Sood, Aryan
Beckwith, Steven V. W.
Claveau, Charles-Antoine
Bloom, Joshua S.
Rider, Kodi
Werthimer, Dan
Liu, Wei
Nir, Guy
Lee, Harrison
McCauley, Jeremy
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
The rise of time-domain astronomy including electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational waves, gravitational microlensing, explosive phenomena, and even astrometry with Gaia, are showing the power and need for surveys with high-cadence, large area, and long time baselines to study the transient universe. A constellation of SmallSats or CubeSats providing wide, instantaneous sky coverage down to 21 Vega mag at optical wavelengths would be ideal for addressing this need. We are assembling CuRIOS-ED (CubeSats for Rapid Infrared and Optical Survey--Exploration Demo), an optical telescope payload which will act as a technology demonstrator for a larger constellation of several hundred 16U CubeSats known as CuRIOS. In preparation for CuRIOS, CuRIOS-ED will launch in late 2025 as part of the 12U Starspec InspireSat MVP payload. CuRIOS-ED will be used to demonstrate the StarSpec ADCS pointing capabilities to <1" and to space-qualify a commercial camera package for use on the full CuRIOS payload. The CuRIOS-ED camera system will utilize a Sony IMX455 CMOS detector delivered in an off-the-shelf Atik apx60 package which we modified to be compatible with operations in vacuum as well as the CubeSat form factor, power, and thermal constraints. By qualifying this commercial camera solution, the cost of each CuRIOS satellite will be greatly decreased (~100x) when compared with current space-qualified cameras with IMX455 detectors. We discuss the CuRIOS-ED mission design with an emphasis on the disassembly, repackaging, and testing of the Atik apx60 for space-based missions. Characterization of the apx60's read noise, dark current, patterned noise, and thermal behavior are reported for a range of temperatures (-35 C to 40 C) and exposure times (0.001s to 30 s). Additionally, we comment on preliminary environmental testing results from a successful thermal vacuum test.
title CuRIOS-ED: The Technology Demonstrator for the CubeSats for Rapid Infrared and Optical Surveys Mission
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.11471