EQUULEUS#DELPHINUS

Mapping the plasmasphere around Earth may provide important insight for protecting both humans and electronics from radiation damage during long space journeys. It will also demonstrate low-thrust trajectory control techniques, such as multiple lunar flybys, within the Earth-Moon Lagrange points (EML).{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/international-partners-provide-cubesats-for-sls-maiden-flight|title=International Partners Provide Science Satellites for America's Space Launch System Maiden Flight|publisher=NASA|date=26 May 2016|access-date=12 March 2021}} {{PD-notice}} The mission will demonstrate that departing from EML can transfer to various orbits, such as Earth orbits, Moon orbits, and interplanetary orbits, with a tiny amount of orbital control.{{cite web|url=http://issl.space.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/equuleus/en/mission/technology-demonstration/|title=EQUULEUS - Technology Demonstration|work=Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory|publisher=University of Tokyo|date=2017|access-date=12 March 2021}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} EQUULEUS features 2 deployable solar panels, and lithium batteries.

The mission will be monitored from the Japanese deep space antenna (64-meter antenna and 34-meter antenna) with support from the DSN (Deep Space Network) of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The principal investigator is Professor Hashimoto at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The mission is named after the 'little horse' constellation Equuleus.{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05/27/sls_cubesats/|title=NASA firms up Space Launch System nanosat manifest|author=Lester Haines|publisher=The Register |date=27 May 2016|access-date=12 March 2021}}

The propulsion system, called AQUARIUS, employs 8 water thrusters also used for attitude control (orientation) and momentum management.{{cite journal |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2017/TS7AdvTech2/6/|title=Development of the Water Resistojet Propulsion System for Deep Space Exploration by the CubeSat: EQUULEUS|journal=Small Satellite Conference |publisher=University of Tokyo|date=2017|access-date=12 March 2021|last1=Asakawa |first1=Jun |last2=Koizumi |first2=Hiroyuki |last3=Nishii |first3=Keita |last4=Takeda |first4=Naoki |last5=Funase |first5=Ryu |last6=Komurasaki |first6=Kimiya }} The spacecraft carries 1.2 kg of water,{{cite web |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=0&article=3799&context=smallsat&type=additional|title=Development of the Water ResistojetPropulsion System for Deep Space Exploration by the CubeSat EQUULEUS|author=Hiroyuki Koizumi|work=Small Satellite Conference|publisher=University of Tokyo|date=2017|access-date=12 March 2021}} and the complete propulsion system occupied about 2.5 units out of the 6 units total spacecraft volume. The waste heat from the communication components is reused to assist the pre-heater in the water vapor production system. The water is heated to {{cvt|100|C}} at the pre-heater. The AQUARIUS' water thrusters produce a total of 4.0 mN, a specific impulse (I_sp) of 70 seconds, and consumes about 20 watts power. Before its flight on EQUULEUS, AQUARIUS was first tested on the 2019 AQT-D CubeSat.

File:Equuleus_IAU.svg.]]

EQUULEUS{{'}} scientific payload features a small UV imager named PHOENIX (Plasmaspheric Helium ion Observation by Enhanced New Imager in eXtreme ultraviolet) that will operate in the high-energy extreme ultraviolet wavelengths. It consists of an entrance mirror of 60 mm diameter, and a photon counting device. The reflectivity of the mirror is optimized for the emission line of helium ion (30.4 nm wavelength), which is the relevant component of the plasmasphere of Earth.{{cite web|url=https://issl.space.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/equuleus/en/mission/phoenix/|title=Plasmaspheric Helium ion Observation by Enhanced New Imager in eXtreme ultraviolet|work=EQUULEUS mission home page Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory|publisher=University of Tokyo|date=2017|access-date=12 March 2021}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The plasmasphere is where various phenomena are caused by the electromagnetic disturbances by the solar wind. By flying far from the Earth, the PHOENIX telescope will provide a global image of the plasmasphere of Earth and contribute to its spatial and temporal evolution.

DELPHINUS (DEtection camera for Lunar impact PHenomena IN 6U Spacecraft), or DLP for short, is a camera connected to the PHOENIX telescope to observe lunar impact flashes and near-Earth asteroids (NEO), as well as potential 'mini-moons' while positioned at the Earth-Moon Lagrangian point L2 (L2) halo orbit. Theoretically, NEOs approaching Earth can be briefly caught within gravity of Earth well, and although in terms of orbital mechanics the object's movements is still centered around the Sun, to an observer on Earth it will move as if it is a moon of the planet.{{cite web|url=http://issl.space.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/equuleus/mission/delphinus/|title=DELPHINUS|publisher=Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory|access-date=2017-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201120735/http://issl.space.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/equuleus/mission/delphinus/|archive-date=2017-12-01|url-status=dead}} One example of such an object is 2006 RH120, which orbited Earth between 2006 and 2007. If a mini-moon or NEO that can be rendezvoused by EQUULEUS is identified, the CubeSat will attempt a flyby. This payload occupies about 0.5 units out of the total 6 units volume. The results will contribute to the risk evaluation for future infrastructure or human activity on the lunar surface.

The instrument named CLOTH (Cis-Lunar Object detector within THermal insulation) will detect and evaluate the meteoroid impact flux in the cislunar space by using dust detectors mounted on the exterior of the spacecraft. The goal of this instrument is to determine the size and spatial distribution of dust solid objects in the cislunar space.{{cite journal |url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat/2017/all2017/33/|title=EQUULEUS: Mission to Earth - Moon Lagrange Point by a 6U Deep Space CubeSat|journal=Small Satellite Conference |publisher=Utah State University, Small Satellite Conference |date=2017|access-date=12 March 2021|last1=Ikari |first1=Satoshi |last2=Ozaki |first2=Naoya |last3=Nakajima |first3=Shintaro |last4=Oguri |first4=Kenshiro |last5=Miyoshi |first5=Kota |last6=Campagnola |first6=Stefano |last7=Koizumi |first7=Hiroyuki |last8=Kobayashi |first8=Yuta |last9=Funase |first9=Ryu }} CLOTH utilizes the spacecraft's multi-layer insulation (MLI) as a detector, thus realizing a dust counter suitable for mass-constrained CubeSats.{{cite journal|url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4399&context=smallsat|title=Solar System Exploration Sciences by EQUULEUS on SLS EM-1 and Science Instruments Development Status|first1=Satoshi |last1=Ikari|first2=Masahiro |last2=Fujiwara|first3=Hirotaka |last3=Kondo|first4=Shuhei|last4=Matsushita|first5=Ichiro |last5=Yoshikawa|display-authors=etal|journal=33rd Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites|page=4|access-date=December 10, 2022}} It will be the first instrument to measure the dust environment of the Earth–Moon L2 Lagrange point, and aims to uncover the dust's origin, as well as conducting risk assessment of the L2 point dust particles in anticipation of a future crewed mission. CLOTH will decipher L2 point dust (likely originating from mini-moons) from sporadic dust by differences in their impact velocity.

{{Portal|Spaceflight}}

;The 10 CubeSats flying in the Artemis 1 mission

• Near-Earth Asteroid Scout by NASA was a solar sail spacecraft that was planned to encounter a near-Earth asteroid (mission failure)
• BioSentinel is an astrobiology mission
• LunIR by Lockheed Martin Space
• Lunar IceCube, by the Morehead State University
• CubeSat for Solar Particles (CuSP)
• Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map), designed by the Arizona State University
• EQUULEUS, submitted by JAXA and the University of Tokyo
• OMOTENASHI, submitted by JAXA, was a lunar lander (mission failed)
• ArgoMoon, designed by Argotec and coordinated by Italian Space Agency (ASI)
• Team Miles, by Fluid and Reason LLC, Tampa, Florida

;The 3 CubeSat missions removed from Artemis 1

• Lunar Flashlight will map exposed water ice on the Moon
• Cislunar Explorers, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
• Earth Escape Explorer (CU-E³), University of Colorado Boulder

;CubeSat and microsatellite projects of ISSL

• Hodoyoshi 3
• Hodoyoshi 4
• PROCYON
• TRICOM-1R
• Nano-JASMINE
• ISSL Mars mission

{{Reflist}}{{Japanese space program}}{{Moon spacecraft}}

{{Orbital launches in 2022}}

{{2022 in space}}

Category:CubeSats

Category:Missions to the Moon

Category:Japanese space probes

Category:Space probes launched in 2022

Category:2022 in Japan

Category:Secondary payloads

Category:Satellites orbiting the Moon