Mission type Technology SATCAT no. 38853 Spacecraft type 1U CubeSat | COSPAR ID 1998-067CP Mission duration 21 months | |
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Operator Fukuoka Institute of Technology | ||
Niwaka or FITSAT-1 is a 1U CubeSat satellite deployed from the International Space Station on October 4, 2012.
The Niwaka satellite includes high power LEDs which are driven by 200W pulses, allowing Morse code style communication from the sky to the ground. FITSAT-1 (Niwaka) communicates with ground by means of 5.8 GHz high-speed (115200bit/s) transmitter. It also has a 437 MHz (amateur band) beacon and transmitter with data rate 1200bit/s for telemetry downlink. The name Niwaka derives from "Hakata Niwaka", which is traditional impromptu comical talking with masks. It is also the old name of the city Fukuoka, site of the Fukuoka Institute of Technology in Japan which created the satellite. We-Wish, Raiko, FITSat 1, F 1, and TechEdSat travelled to orbit aboard HTV-3.
It reentered atmosphere on July 4, 2013.