IGOSat - A 3U Cubesat for measuring the radiative/electrons content in low Earth orbit and ionosphere

摘要

The IGOSat (Ionospheric Gamma-ray Observations Satellite) satellite aims at measuring the spectrum of gamma radiations (20 keV to 2 MeV) and electrons (1 MeV to 20 MeV) in the polar zones and in the South Atlantic Anomaly, as well as the total electronic content of the ionosphere. The satellite contains two payloads: a dual-frequency GPS receiver and a scintillator, which will be part of a 3U Cubesat satellite, in a near polar orbit at an altitude of about 650 km. The scintillator payload is composed of plastic (organic) and crystal (CeBr3, inorganic) scintillators read by a 4x4 matrix and 10 single-pixel Silicon Photomultipliers. Geant-4 simulations have been used for choosing its size and estimate its efficiency. This paper summarizes the concept, the scientific objectives of the project, mostly focusing on the scintillator payload, and introduces some key information on the Dual-Frequency GPS payload.