Prelude Spacecraft - Nanosats Database

Spacecraft	PRELUDE (Precursory electric field observation CubeSat demonstrator)
Form factor	CubeSat
Units or mass	6U
Mass in kg	9.6 kg
Status	No signal (Official post on X on 2026-06-26)
Launched	2026-04-23
NORAD ID	?
Deployer	EXOpod Nova 12U/16U [Exolaunch]
Launcher	Electron
Entity name	Nihon University
Institution	University
Entity type	Academic / Education
Nation	Japan
Partners	University of Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefectural University
Oneliner	Aiming at elucidation of the precursory mechanism of earthquake, and the development situation of hybrid sensor (electric field and plasma measurement).
Description	The Prelude satellite acquires VLF band signals affected by ionospheric fluctuations, which are considered to be a promising precursor to earthquakes. In addition, the satellite is equipped with a GNSS receiver to observe the total number of electrons in the ionosphere in order to observe the increase in electron density, which is considered to be one of the mechanisms of ionospheric fluctuations. We are developing a CubeSat, to elucidate the mechanism of precursor phenomena of earthquakes through satellite observations and to conduct tight-lattice observations in the future. The CubeSat is a 6U size satellite, which is specialized to observe only the signal strength analysis of ionospheric fluctuation and TEC information to know the ionospheric condition, while the conventional satellites, DEMETER and China's CSES, are larger than 100 kg. This satellite observes the signal intensity of VLF band and electron density and electron temperature on the orbit in the solar synchronous quasi-regression orbit at 500 ~ 700 km altitude. The deviation of the charge distribution caused by the penetration of the electromagnetic wave causes the electric field. And, since the mass of electron and ion is different, there is a case in which the charge deviation occurs in the plasma
Notes
Sources	[1] [2] [3] [4]
Photo sources	[1] [2]
Keywords	Earthquake ELF prediction
On the same launch	ARICA-2 FSI-SAT2 KOSEN-2R MAGNARO-II Piscis MAGNARO-II Tigris Mono-Nikko OrigamiSat-2 Prelude WASEDA-SAT-ZERO-II

Last modified: 2026-07-29