PADRE Spacecraft

PADRE
Satellite name PADRE (solar PolArization and Directivity X-Ray Experiment)
Spacecraft type CubeSat
Units or mass 12U
Status not launched, expected in 2025
Launcher Falcon 9, (Transporter-14)
Organisation University of California, Berkeley
Institution University
Entity type Academic / Education
Nation (HQ) US
Nation (AIT) Bulgaria
Manufacturer AIVT by EnduroSat
Operator EnduroSat
Partners NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Southwest Research Institute, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Saclay Nuclear Research Centre of the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA-Saclay)
Oneliner

Study and decipher the secrets of the Sun.

Description

The solar PolArization and Directivity X-Ray Experiment (PADRE) is NASA CubeSat mission to study and decipher the secrets of the Sun. The mission is a collaboration between the Space Sciences Laboratory – University of California Berkeley (SSL/UCB), Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Southwest Research Institute (SWRI), University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), the Saclay Nuclear Research Centre of the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA-Saclay).

The science instruments (x-ray polarimeter and Directivity sensor) will be hosted on EnduroSat’s 12U satellite and are scheduled to launch in 2025. This will enable observation of the Sun in hard X-rays (HXRs) from LEO to determine the angular distribution of accelerated electrons from standalone and joint SOLO/STIX observations. This will allow the determination of the angular distribution of flare-accelerated electrons, a quantity that is currently unknown, except in a handful of ambiguous cases.

PADRE Mission will help humanity understand better solar activity, solar flares, and space weather. The most challenging and interesting aspect of this mission is that EnduroSat’s 12U satellite will be spinning at a constant rate while taking measurements. The platform is one of the highest-performance platforms of the company, easily adaptable to handle complex Earth Observation, IoT, science, and exploration missions.

Notes

May be called one of the EnduroSat's Platform missions as a hosted payload. Will be merged once known.

Sources [1] [2]
Photo sources [1]

Last modified: 2024-12-29

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