IGOSat – a 3U educational CubeSat for measuring the ionospheric Total Electron Content and characterizing the radiation belts electrons and gamma-ray emission.

IGOSat (Ionosphere and Gamma-ray Observations Satellite) is a nanosatellite aimed to measure the Total Electronic Content (TEC) and the Gamma-ray radiation at low Earth orbit and in Earth’s ionosphere. Its areas of interest are the Aurora zones and the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA).

The selected configuration consists of two small payloads: one based on a novel kind of scintillator, CeBr3 based, for radiation belts gamma-ray and electrons characterization; the other on a dual band GPS receiver for the measurement of the TEC (total electrons content) of the ionosphere, through occultation technics. These 2 payloads will be hosted on a 3U CubeSat platform, orbiting the Earth at an altitude of about 600 km and inclination of about 97°.

The project is supported by the French Space Agency (CNES) and the University Paris Diderot, in collaboration with three laboratories (APC, IPGP and AIM), gathered within the LabEx (Laboratory of Excellence) UnivEarthS. It has started in 2012, and is presently in phase D, where we are building the Qualification Model. The Flight Model construction and the satellite launch are planned for 2020. Beside its scientific interest, one main objective of IGOSat is educational and thus to give hands-on experience to students in a space project. More than 270 students have already worked for IGOSat

This paper will describe the scientific and educational objectives of IGOSat, the mission, the payloads and their associated technology.