The Mexican Space Agency (AEM) reported that Mexican students were selected to participate in the design and development of the Ten-Koh satellite , a project that was launched by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) .
The director of the AEM, Javier Mendieta Jiménez , informed that the PhD students Isaí Fajardo Tapia and Rigoberto Reyes Morales, from the Kuyshu Institute of Technology (Kyutech) in Kitakyushu, Japan, were invited to participate in the development of the satellite as part of a team of 23 people from 13 countries .
"Rigoberto and Isaí have generously shared their knowledge with their Mexican colleagues since the start of their PhDs in Japan, which, like the forthcoming launch of the Mexican Nanosatellite AzTechSAT-1 from the International Space Station in 2019 , demonstrates a steady increase in capacities among our youth to develop and launch more nanosatellites into space, encompassing multiple benefits for our country."
The Ten-Koh is a miniaturized satellite of quasi-spherical shape, weighing approximately 23 kilograms , and with a structure mainly based on a carbon fiber composite (CFRP).
It was launched as a secondary load of the Japanese satellite GOSAT-2 "IBUKI-2" and the satellite Khalifasat of the United Arab Emirates , by means of the rocket H-2A number 40, from the space center of Tanegashima, in southern Japan .
Master Isaí Fajardo
participated in the design of instrumentation for various payloads, in collaboration with other students and researchers, being in charge of the studies and preliminary estimates of the main experiments of the Ten-Koh mission and its requirements.
In turn, master Rigoberto Reyes participated in the design, development, testing, and integration of the orientation determination subsystem (ADS) , as well as in the development of the algorithm by which the orientation of the satellite in space is determined.
This subsystem has the main task of providing two of the main experiments with the direction information of the satellite, which is crucial in the interpretation of data obtained through said experiments.
The two Mexican students are part of the Space Engineering International Course (SEIC) , a program of Kyutech, which is part of the UNOOSA-Japan cooperation framework , called PNST (Post-Graduate Study on Nano-Satellite Technologies) , focused on studies of Nanosatellites technologies.
The Ten-Koh satellite incorporates different payloads that make measurements of the plasma environment in the ionosphere and its variations. It also measures charged particles (electrons, ions, and protons) in LEO orbit, as well as the degradation effects of new materials based on carbon compounds when exposed to the space environment.
It also carries secondary loads for demonstrations of new technologies applied to satellites and spacecraft, the AEM said in a statement.
The satellite, developed in the laboratory of Professor Okuyama at Kyutech , has started to broadcast its signal, which was received in Argentina, the United States, Germany, Brazil, Colombia, Europe, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico (with the help of the Mexican Federation of Radio Experimenters, FMRE), and Ukraine .
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