ALE-2

Last updated
ALE-2
Mission typeSpace entertainment, atmospheric science
Operator ALE Co., LTD
COSPAR ID 2019-084A
Website https://star-ale.com/en/technology/
Start of mission
Launch date6 December 2019, 08:18 UTC [1]
Rocket Electron
Launch site Rocket Lab LC-1
Contractor Rocket Lab
End of mission
DisposalOrbital re-entry
Decay date19 April 2023
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Inclination 96.8°
ALE
←  ALE-1
ALE-3  →

ALE-2 was a satellite built and operated by ALE Co., LTD for space entertainment and atmospheric science. ALE-2 was intended to release metal particles into Earth's atmosphere to generate artificial meteors, but plans were cancelled due to a malfunction of the deployment system. ALE-2's artificial meteors were to be used to study re-entry dynamics and upper atmosphere phenomena. [2]

Contents

Overview

ALE-2 is ALE Co., LTD's second satellite, following the ALE-1 launched in January 2019. While ALE-1 was a rideshare payload and needed to first descend to a lower altitude to release the artificial meteors, [3] ALE-2 was launched as a primary payload and was deployed directly to an altitude ideal for releasing the artificial meteors. Thus ALE-2 became ALE Co., LTD's first attempt at creating artificial meteors. The satellite was to controllably release particles to the opposite direction of the satellite's direction of travel, which would allow them to re-enter Earth's atmosphere as artificial meteors. [4] ALE-2 was developed by ALE Co., LTD, along with Tohoku University and Nihon University. [5] [6]

On 6 December 2019, an Electron rocket sent ALE-2 to low Earth orbit as part of the ″Running Out Of Fingers″ launch. [1] ALE-2 was placed in orbit with an altitude of 400 kilometres (250 mi), lower than the International Space Station to eliminate any chance the particles released by ALE-2 would pose a risk to the astronauts at the station. [4] Unlike ALE-1, which had no on board propulsion, ALE-2 was equipped with thrusters to counter atmospheric drag and keep its altitude between 375 to 400 kilometres (233 to 249 mi), the optimal height to release the artificial meteor particles. [2]

On 4 April 2023, ALE ended the operations of ALE-2 as the orbital altitude of the satellite decreased following the depletion of onboard fuel. [7] ALE-2 decayed from orbit on 19 April 2023. [8] [9]

Spacecraft

ALE-2's satellite bus was developed by Tohoku University. [10] The ALE-2 satellite is covered in gold plating for better thermal control. [11]

For propulsion, the satellite was equipped with an ALEx supercritical thruster manufactured by Patchedconics, LLC. The ALEx engine was made from COTS components, [12] and uses non-toxic green propellant as fuel. [13] [10] ALEx had a total of four thruster nozzles. [2]

Operation in orbit

In February 2020, ALE announced that a malfunction of the shooting star deployment mechanism prevented ALE-2 from releasing artificial meteor particles. [14] Nevertheless, a simulation of the deployment was conducted in orbit. [15] The satellite's thrusters experienced power failures while in eclipses, as the DC/DC converter for the thrusters did not function properly when the battery voltage was too low. [10]

References

  1. 1 2 "Running Out Of Fingers". Rocket Lab . Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  2. 1 2 3 Sato, Yuji; Fujita, Shinya; Kuwahara, Toshinori; Shibuya, Yoshihiko; Kamachi, Koh; Kawaguchi, Junichiro; Kubo, Yuki; Nada, Yuichiro; Ohashi, Kaoru (12 January 2020). Design and Evaluation of Thruster Control Approach for Micro-satellite ALE-2 . 2020 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration. Honolulu, Hawaii: IEEE. doi:10.1109/SII46433.2020.9026234 . Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "First man-made shooting star satellite successfully lowers its altitude" (Press release). ALE Co., LTD. September 29, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2025.
  4. 1 2 Shibuya, Yoshihiko; Kuwahara, Toshinori; Sato, Yuji; Fujita, Shinya; Watanabe, Hayato; Mitsuhashi, Yui (25 October 2021). "Orbit Design and Analysis of Artificial Meteors Generating Micro-satellites". Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress. 28th IAA Symposium on Small Satellite Missions 2021 at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress. Dubai: Tohoku University . Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  5. ↑ "Kuwahara Laboratory Tohoku University" (in Japanese). Tohoku University . Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  6. ↑ "航空宇宙工学科 阿部新助准教授が共同研究開発をしている、(株)ALE 人工衛星2号機 ALE2が、エレクトロンロケットにて軌道投入成功！世界初の実験へ。" (Press release) (in Japanese). Nihon University. December 6, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Announcement of the Termination of Operations for Second Satellite" (Press release). ALE Co., LTD. April 18, 2023. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  8. ↑ "ALE-2". N2YO.com. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  9. ↑ Otsuka, Minoru (October 3, 2023). "「すごい流れ星が見えるかも」 400粒もの"流れ星の素"を積んだ人工衛星が近く大気圏再突入". Itmedia NEWS (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  10. 1 2 3 Sato, Yuji; Fujita, Shinya; Shibuya, Yoshihiko; Kuwahara, Toshinori (August 2021). In-orbit Demonstration of Reaction Control System for Orbital Altitude Change of MicroSatellite ALE-2. 35th Annual Small Satellite Conference. Logan, Utah: Utah State University . Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  11. ↑ ALE_human-made shooting star project/人工流れ星プロジェクト [@ALE_StarAle] (6 March 2020). "「Close to the features of ALE-2! ②」 The ALE-2 covers material uses gold plating to properly control the satellite temperature✨ ALE-1 shines in silver and ALE-2 shines in gold, which are both very cool!! 😆" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ Kawaguchi, Junichiro; Yoneda, Hiroaki; Yasuda, Shun; Fujita, Masahiro; Kubo, Yuki (18 January 2024). "高容積効率All-In-One 1Uスラスタの飛翔型モデルについて". Proceedings of Space Transportation Symposium FY2023. Space Transportation Symposium FY2023 (in Japanese). Sagamihara, Kanagawa: JAXA . Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  13. ↑ "Patchedconics Taps for Future with Space Technology". Patchedconics, LLC. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
  14. ↑ Wall, Mike (15 May 2020). "Japanese satellite filled with 'shooting star' pellets won't spawn artificial meteor shower after all". Space.com . Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  15. ↑ Shibuya, Yoshihiko; Sato, Yuji; Tomio, Hannah; Kuwahara, Toshinori; Fujita, Shinya; Kamachi, Koh; Watanabe, Hayato (21 January 2021). Development and Demonstration of the Mission Control System for Artificial Meteor Generating Micro-satellites . 2021 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration. Iwaki, Fukushima: IEEE. doi:10.1109/IEEECONF49454.2021.9382604 . Retrieved 3 June 2025.
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