14/06/2024
1657 views
9 like
Europe’s newest rocket is about to launch, taking with it many space missions, each with a unique goal, objective and a team back home to cheer them on. Whether we’re launching new satellites to look back and study Earth, peer into deep space, or test important new technologies in orbit, Ariane 6’s maiden flight will showcase the versatility and flexibility of this impressive heavy-lift launch vehicle. Read all about GRBBeta and then see who else is flying first.
GRBBeta is the successor to the world’s smallest astrophysical space observatory, GRBAlpha – the first CubeSat to detect gamma ray bursts (GRBs) from space; it still works well after three years in orbit, and more than 135 “transients” have been detected so far.
GRBBeta in orbit – visualization
Building on the success of Alpha, GRBBeta will serve as a “test bed” for a number of new technologies that will be vital to future constellations of GRB-detecting satellites and other CubeSat missions.
Gamma-ray bursts are extremely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the brightest and most extreme explosive events in the universe – a typical GRB releases as much energy in a few seconds as the Sun in its entire 10 billion year lifetime.
An image of a gamma ray burst
GRBs are thought to be released during a hypernova – when a particularly massive star implodes powerfully to form a neutron star or black hole. After a huge initial burst of gamma rays, the “afterglow” emits longer wavelengths in X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, microwave and radio radiation.
The main supplier of the satellite is the Faculty of Aviation of the Technical University of Košice, while Spacemanic, a turnkey nanosatellite mission provider and manufacturer of CubeSat components based in the Czech Republic, led the design of the state-of-the-art two-unit (2U) GRBBeta CubeSat. Its science payload was built in Hungarian, Czech, Japanese and Canadian collaboration and represents a significant leap forward in space technology.
The Spacemaniac team
The Hungarian Konkoly Observatory led the development of the GRBBeta gamma-ray burst detector, while the Czech Masaryk University led the scientific data analysis. Japan’s Hiroshima University made a major contribution to the detector hardware, and Canada’s University of Toronto built the Experimental Mini-UV Space Telescope.
As in the case of the GRBAlpha mission, Spacemanic is responsible for the overall construction of GRBBeta – from project management through mission design to the construction and integration of almost all its components and the development of the ground segment.
Jakub Kapuš, CEO at Spacemanic
“GRBBeta is a joint project that includes various technological innovations from multiple collaborators,” explains Jakub Kapuš, CEO of Spacemanic. “Simply put, we wanted to see how much science we could ‘cram’ into two units of space. As it turns out, the answer is “a lot.”
In addition to the gamma-ray burst experiment, GRBBeta also offers amateur radio capabilities and several other experiments.
“One of the tested technologies that we are particularly excited about is the first large CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) ultraviolet image sensor from the Dunlap Institute at the University of Toronto,” continues Jakub Kapuš.
Semiconductor image sensors convert light into electrical signals and generally have higher resolution and lower power consumption than traditional CCD (charge-coupled device) sensors, i.e. cameras.
Daniela Jovic, CCO at Spacemanic
GRBBeta is ultimately intended to serve as an affordable, astronomical-level space camera with better or equal performance as less-affordable alternatives.
“GRBAlpha has shown that small CubeSats are capable of performing on-orbit science at a fraction of the cost and time required to launch a standard full-size satellite mission,” explains Daniela Jovic, CCO at Spacemanic.
“In this way, it opens up the market to a wide range of nations, universities and research institutions that would otherwise not be able to get their experiments into space. On this journey, we have high hopes that the success of GRBBeta and the other smallsat missions we are preparing will serve as inspiration for the next big project in a small cube.”
Natália Gogolová, Spacemanic mechanical engineer
Along with its astrophysical instruments, GRBBeta is also equipped with a Murgas “transceiver” – a device that can both transmit and receive data – presenting a unique opportunity for the global amateur radio community.
The satellite will be visible to the open-source SatNOGS network, so anyone with an internet connection will be able to view its live telemetry (data) via the Grafana Dashboard from the comfort of their home and monitor and control the health of the little space wonder.
“It is truly an honor to be a part of this significant moment in European space exploration. Our team poured their hearts and souls to reach this stage,” explains Natália Gogolová, Mechanical Engineer at Spacemanic.
“When GRBBeta left our office for the launch pad, it was a sentimental reminder of all the dedication and teamwork that got us to this point. The anticipation of receiving the first signals back from GRBBeta is absolutely exciting – we are all eagerly awaiting that moment.”