SNIPE Mission for Space Weather Research

The Small Scale magNetospheric and Ionospheric Plasma Experiment (SNIPE) ’ s scientific goal is to observe spatial and temporal variations of the micro-scale plasma structures on the topside ionosphere. The four 6U CubeSats (~10 kg) will be launched into a polar orbit at ~500 km. The distances of each satellite will be controlled from 10 km to more than ~1,000 km by the formation flying algorithm. The SNIPE mission is equipped with identical scientific instruments, Solid-State Telescopes(SST), Magnetometers(Mag), and Langmuir Probes(LP). All the payloads have a high temporal resolution (sampling rates of about 10 Hz). Iridium communication modules provide an opportunity to upload emergency commands to change operational modes when geomagnetic storms occur. SNIPE ’ s observations of the dimensions, occurrence rates, amplitudes, and spatiotemporal evolution of polar cap patches, field-aligned currents (FAC), radiation belt microbursts, and equatorial and mid-latitude plasma blobs and bubbles will determine their significance to the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction and quantify their impact on space weather. The formation flying CubeSat constellation, the SNIPE mission, will be launched by Soyuz-2 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2023.

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