33494 - SPRITE-SAT

SPRITE-SAT, developed by Tohoku University, is a cube of approximately 50 cm and 50 kg mass and will observe sprites and gamma-rays generated during Earth thunderstorms.

This one of seven microsatellites deployed as piggyback payloads to the IBUKI spacecraft. All of these spacecraft follow a similar roughly 660 km sun-synchronous orbit. Six of the small satellites were developed by universities and private-sector companies; the seventh is a technology demonstrator for JAXA.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2009-01-23
Launch Vehicle: H-2A
Launch Site: Tanegashima, Japan