ENSO Spacecraft

Nanosatellite R&D platform that aims to help characterise the ionosphere by providing a signal to SANSA ground stations that measure solar activity and its impact on Earth.

Nanosatellite R&D platform that aims to help characterise the ionosphere by providing a signal to SANSA ground stations that measure solar activity and its impact on Earth.

The Expleo-led nanosatellite is part of an R&D program to measure solar radiation and monitor the ionosphere. The collected data will be used to understand the effects of solar activity on critical satellite and telecommunication systems such as those used in aviation.

1. The ENSO mission aims to help characterize the ionosphere by providing a signal to SANSA ground station (SENAE IV Antarctic) that measure solar activity and its impact on Earth.
2. RadioHam, The RadioHam community will be able to request the activation of the payload beacon at the desired time and location outside of scientific mission activation requirements. Note that the HF beacon cannot be available a few days a year during SANSA station maintenance periods. (Periods of inactivity will be communicated on the CSUM website and on CSUM social networks)
3. Educational, About fifty students participated in the development of the platform. As part of their training, a module is allocated to the initiation to amateur radio. In addition, we pass the license to around ten students each year with the ANFR (French administration).The HF ENSO beacon is an opportunity for the radio amateur community to explore and characterize the propagation channels in the ionosphere (reflection and propagation) on white areas where there is no radiofrequency coverage (oceans, deserts, poles, etc.). And of course, at the same time, to calibrate their own HF ground station. Finally, modules compatible with SatNogs will be made available to the community to simplify data acquisition. 

It also integrates a six-meter antenna, which deploys after launch, and a camera system to support secondary data collection missions. Once its antenna is deployed, ENSO will officially begin its primary mission: a high-frequency beacon will measure the ionosphere, a highly active part of Earth's upper atmosphere used to support radio and satellite communications. ENSO data will be sent to SANSA ground stations located in Antarctica. This data will be used to improve our understanding of the impact of solar activity on our atmosphere.

• EIRSAT-1
• ENSO
• Hayasat-1
• Lilium-1
• SpIRIT
• ALISIO
• BEESAT-14
• BEESAT-15
• LOGSATS
• MDQubeSat-2
• Unicorn-2L
• Unicorn-2M
• Unicorn-2N