RainCube: Radar Weather Observations from a Sustainable, Small Satellite Platform

RainCube (Radar in a CubeSat) is a technology demonstration mission to enable Ka-band precipitation radar technologies on a low-cost, quick-turnaround platform. The RainCube 6U CubeSat features two new technologies: the miniaturized Ka-band atmospheric radar (miniKaAR) and the half-meter Ka-band deployable parabolic antenna (KaPDA), and it is the first precipitation radar designed to fit within a CubeSat volume. Shortly after one month of operations, RainCube commissioned the spacecraft and radar, deployed the radar antenna, and collected the first observation of rainfall. RainCube has completed its baseline mission in demonstrating on-orbit a precipitation radar on a 6U CubeSat, and RainCube has successfully demonstrated the first radar instrument on a CubeSat platform. RainCube is currently in extended operations.

This paper will focus on the RainCube on-orbit observations and the demonstrated capability of the new radar technologies. The paper will also address the implications for future Earth Science missions, including a sustainable approach for weather satellite constellations to provide a new paradigm in observing temporal variations of weather systems.