Raycat CubeSat Project

The Raycat CubeSat Project aims to place a 1U CubeSat in a low polar orbit to survey the low-orbit radiation environment, including the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) as well as provide open-source radiation data to other satellite operators at that altitude (approx. 300 km)

The Problem

As of late, government-funded space science programs have been rapidly stripped of funding. This creates a serious gap in the space science capabilities of not only the United States, but the international scientific community as a whole.

The Solution

Given the sudden reduction in government-sponsored space science, it falls to us, the citizen scientific community, to pick up the slack and continue gathering vital data. As the number of independent actors (schools, universities, individuals) place scientific satellites in low orbit, knowledge of the radiation environment becomes critical to allow for the optimal operation of these satellites. This is what Raycat aims to provide.