The Buccaneer project is a jount project of (UNSW) and (DSTO) to build a 3U CubeSats to calibrate the Jindalee Over-the-Horizon Radar Network (JORN). It consists of a risk mitigation satellite and the operational satellite.
The Buccaneer satellite is a 3U CubeSat with the body dimensions 0.34 m × 0.1 m times; 0.1 m with a total mass of up to 4 kg. The payload on-board Buccaneer is a high frequency receiver. The mission will provide performance calibration of some aspects of the Jindalee Over-the-Horizon Radar Network (JORN). The antenna will be stowed during launch and jettison from the launch vehicle. Once the spacecraft is operating the antenna sections will be deployed. Each section measures 1.73 m from body to tip or 3.46 m from tip to tip. The antenna will be constructed using commercially available spring steel measuring tape. The spring steel tape is very thin and flexible, but in the microgravity of low Earth orbit with extremely small loads it is anticipated the antenna will remain stable once it is deployed. The following assessment has been conducted to understand the design margin.
The Buccaneer RMM (Buccaneer Risk Mitigation Mission, BRMM) was launched in November 2017 to mitigate problems of deploying the HF antenna.
The Buccaneer satelite with complete HF receiver will follow in 2019.
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