Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory (ISSL) of University of Tokyo developed a super small satellite "CubeSat XI", which weighs 1kg and is a cube 10cm on a side, and succeeded in launching it on June 30, 2003. XI has been working satisfactorily since its launch, and we still perform the operation every day. If you would like to know more about XI, please visit this page.

We started "CubeSat2" project in 2002, aiming at a more sophisticated satellite based on the pico-satellite bus system such as power and communication which we have cultivated through XI series. The size of the new satellite is about 19cm*19cm*30cm, which is sort of larger than XI, and its mass is about 8kg. In addition to the improvement of the bus function, we will perform a remote sensing mission as our new challenge. CubeSat-sized satellites are classified into pico-satellites, and we expect our new satellite to obtain Earth images with highest resolution in this class.

CubeSat2 is code-named "PRISM". PRISM stands for "Pico-satellite for Remote-sensing and Innovative Space Missions". The word "prism" itself also has the optical and mathematical meanings suitable for our new satellite.

We have developed components comprising PRISM in each subsystem and have completed its BBM (Bread Board Model) until 2003, although the development was suspended once because of the launch and the operation of XI and other missions. But we started developping again in 2006.
And now we have finished making PRISM 2ndEM (Engineering Model).
2nd EM is pre-model of FM (FM is a launch Model).
From now, We do a lot of test with 2nd EM.
PRISM fortunately got a launcher(HII-A,JAXA), which will be launched in 2008.
We do development even harder!!

In the field of large satellites such as IKONOS, remote-sensing with super high resolution (less than 1m) is being realized. Small satellites like PRISM cannot achieve the performance to this extent at present technology, but if we can obtain the images with 10m-class resolution at drastically low cost, that is supposed to be the needs of small satellites. PRISM requires new technologies such as the extension of the boom with a lens attached at the tip of it and the active attitude control, in order to satisfy the aforementioned performance.

Please refer to the page of each subsystem for more detail information.