Super Low Altitude Test Satellite (SLATS) or Tsubame was a JAXA satellite intended to demonstrate operations in very low Earth orbit (VLEO, below 200 km), using ion engines to counteract aerodynamic drag from the Earth's atmosphere which is substantial at such lower orbital altitudes. It was launched on 23 December 2017, and decommissioned on 1 October 2019.[1]
The spacecraft was equipped with sensors to determine atomic oxygen density, an exposure facility to measure material degradation in the 200 km orbit, and a small camera.[2] Initial designs had conventional, though slightly canted, solar panels (compare to the aerodynamic shape and on-body solar panels of GOCE, which flew in a 255 km orbit).
SLATS's nickname Tsubame is Japanese for barn swallow. According to JAXA the name was chosen because the thin, elongated satellite in super low orbit with its set of solar array wings was reminiscent of a swallow flying low to the ground.[3]
SLATS was launched 23 December 2017 on a H-IIA rocket alongside the GCOM-C (Shikisai) satellite to a 630 km orbit, followed by orbit-lowering manoeuvres by a combination of chemical propulsion and aerobraking, with final operation at an altitude below 180 km.[4]
SLATS was operated at 7 altitudes: 271.5 and 216.8 km each for 38 days, and 250, 240, 230, 181.1 and 167.4 km each for 7 days.[5] At 167.4 km the RCS thrusters were used in addition to the ion thruster to maintain altitude.[5]
The operation of the satellite was finished on 30 September 2019, and it was decommissioned in orbit on 1 October 2019 by terminating the communication radio and power.[1] The satellite deorbited 1 October 2019.[6]
On 30 December 2019, Guinness World Records recognized Tsubame's achievement, which reached the lowest altitude ever among Earth observation satellites.[7]
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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