ALPHA is an Italian technology demonstration 1U CubeSat developped by ARCA Dynamics with the main goal of demonstrating radiation hardened technology: a novel integrated ADCS including an innovative reaction wheel by ARCA, a deployable deorbiting sail by NPC Spacemind, and other subsystems such as an EPS by H4-Research, an OBC and telecommunications module by GP Advanced Projects.
ALPHA will bring in orbit the second generation of ARTICA developed by Spacemind (SM) that will be also responsible for bus procurement based on SM products, AIT and test.
The mission will take place in a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), at approximately 15 times the altitude of the International Space Station (ISS). At this altitude, 6.000 km circa, ALPHA will be in an extremely harsh radiative environment, called the inner Van Allen belt, where the Earth?s magnetic field traps harmful solar wind and cosmic rays radiations. Under these conditions, ALPHA will perform scientific experiments to better understand magnetosphere related phenomena, such as Northern lights and southern aurora, and the demonstration of innovative technologies designed and developed to mitigate the effects of radiations.
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