A microsatellite named "RAIKO," developed by faculty and student members of Tohoku University, was delivered to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on June 25th at Tsukuba Space Center. After being transported to the International Space Station (ISS) by Japanese Transfer Vehicle HTV-3, RAIKO will be injected into an Earth orbit together with other microsatellites from the "Kibo" Japanese Experiment module. This injection will be performed through the ISS airlock by use of the Japanese Remote Manipulator System.

Artificial satellites are usually launched and injected into their designated orbit directly by a rocket vehicle. Orbital injection from a space station with a manipulator arm has not been performed before, and the upcoming attempt will be a world-first. If successful, this new method of orbital injection will open up a new scheme for satellite delivery into operational orbit.

The microsatellite RAIKO measures 100mm x 100mm x 200mm and will conduct technology demonstrations including photographing Earth with a fisheye camera. RAIKO was developed as a part of the University International Formation Mission (UNIFORM) Project led by Wakayama University. UNIFORM is funded by a grant from the Nano Satellite Research and Development Project of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture Sports Science and Technology (MEXT). As a precursor of the UNIFORM mission, RAIKO has been jointly designed, developed, and tested by a team with members from Wakayama University, Tohoku University and University of Tokyo. The team will conduct the operations of RAIKO in orbit and conduct communication experiments using a university-based ground station network.

More information (Japanese) 

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