Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences

The Korean Space Science Society (한국우주과학회)
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Initial Results of Low Earth Orbit Space Radiation Dosimeter on Board the Next Generation Small Satellite-2

  • Uk-Won Nam (Space Science Division, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) ;
  • Won-Kee Park (Space Science Division, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) ;
  • Sukwon Youn (Department of Applied Bioengineering, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University) ;
  • Jaeyoung Kwak (Space Science Division, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) ;
  • Jongdae Sohn (Space Science Division, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) ;
  • Bongkon Moon (Space Science Division, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) ;
  • Jaejin Lee (Space Science Division, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) ;
  • Young-Jun Choi (Space Science Division, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) ;
  • Jungho Kim (Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science) ;
  • Sunghwan Kim (Department of Radiological Science, Cheongju University) ;
  • Hongjoo Kim (Department of Physics, Kyungpook National University) ;
  • Hwanbae Park (Department of Physics, Kyungpook National University) ;
  • Sung-Joon Ye (Department of Applied Bioengineering, Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University) ;
  • Hongyoung Park (Satellite Technology Research Center, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Taeseong Jang (Satellite Technology Research Center, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)
  • Received : 2024.08.12
  • Accepted : 2024.08.31
  • Published : 2024.09.15
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Abstract

As human exploration goals shift from missions in low Earth orbit (LEO) to long-duration interplanetary missions, radiation protection remains one of the key technological issues that must be resolved. The low Earth orbit space radiation dosimeter (LEO-DOS) instrument to measure radiation levels and create a global dose map in the LEO on board the the next generation small satellite-2 (NEXTSat-2) was launched successfully on May 25, 2023 using the Nuri KSLV-III in Korea. The NEXTSat-2 orbits the Earth every 100 minutes, in an orbit with an inclination of 97.8° and an altitude of about 550 km above sea level. The LEO-DOS is equipped with a particle dosimeter (PD) and a neutron spectrometer (NS), which enable the measurement of dosimetric quantities such as absorbed dose (D), dose equivalent (H) for charged particles and neutrons. To verify the observations of LEO-DOS, we conducted a radiation dose estimation study based on the initial results of LEO-DOS, measured from June 2023 to September 2023. The study considered four source categories: (i) galactic cosmic ray particles; (ii) the South Atlantic Anomaly region of the inner radiation belt (IRB); (iii) relativistic electrons and/or bremsstrahlung in the outer radiation belt (ORB); and (iv) solar energetic particle (SEP) events.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2017M1A3A4A01077173 and NRF-2017M1A3A4A01077220). We would like to thank the SaTRec team for their efforts in ensuring the stable operation of LEO-DOS following the successful launch of NEXTSat-2.

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