CubeSats – small satellites roughly 10cm in size – punch above their weight when it comes to space research. Their low weight and affordable components make space research cheaper and more accessible, and they are especially popular for Australian research institutions.
The Binar Space Program, based at Western Australia’s Curtin University, specialises in CubeSats running on a single circuit board for space research and exploration. With the success of their first mission launch (Binar 1) in 2021, the Binar 2, 3, and 4 missions were launched in August this year to test innovative new materials and technologies.
One of these new materials is a matrix metal composite (MMC) developed by CSIRO, which is designed to enhance radiation shielding for spacecraft. While initial tests of this material at HIAF in 2022 showed it was more effective than other conventional materials, the Binar missions in 2024 have provided the first opportunity to test the material in space.
To do this, the Binar team developed a suite of three sensors for a radiation detector, specifically tailored to integrate with the Binar CubeSat platform, that would give them the data they need about the new shielding material after launch. The detector actively monitors the radiation environment within the spacecraft’s shielding, providing valuable insights into the effectiveness of the new shielding material compared to traditional aluminium in a space environment.
Before launching into orbit, it was crucial to understand the payload’s response to known radiation exposure levels. That’s where the HIAF space irradiation beamline came into play, creating a simulated space environment by mimicking the proton radiation levels encountered in low Earth orbit.
The particle energies required for this testing were so high that only the capabilities of HIAF could meet the challenge. “We could not have performed the testing at any other facility in Australia,” says Jacob Cook, Instrumentation Engineer for the Binar Space Program.
The testing provided crucial data needed to understand how the detector would perform throughout the mission’s lifetime, ultimately determining the mission’s success.
Binar-2, 3 and 4 were successfully deployed from JAXA: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo module of the International Space Station on August 29th at 7:20pm AWST, and contact was made by Curtin University with all 3 CubeSats on their very first pass overhead.
The information gathered from this mission not only aids in refining CSIRO’s radiation shielding material but also contributes to advancing our understanding of space radiation effects on satellite instrumentation.
