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The micro-Broadband Receiver (uBBR) on the Very-Low-Frequency Propagation Mapper (VPM) CubeSat
  • +11
  • Robert Andrew Marshall,
  • Austin Patrick Sousa,
  • Riley Reid,
  • Gordon R. Wilson,
  • Michael J Starks,
  • Daniel Ramos,
  • John Otto Ballenthin,
  • Steven Quigley,
  • Ronald Kay,
  • James Patton,
  • Joseph Coombs,
  • Judy A. Fennelly,
  • Ivan Linscott,
  • Umran S Inan
Robert Andrew Marshall
University of Colorado Boulder

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Austin Patrick Sousa
University of Colorado, Boulder
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Riley Reid
University of Colorado Boulder
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Gordon R. Wilson
Air Force Research Laboratory
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Michael J Starks
Air Force Research Laboratory
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Daniel Ramos
Air Force Research Laboratory
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John Otto Ballenthin
Air Force Research Lab
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Steven Quigley
Air Force Research Laboratory
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Ronald Kay
ATA Aerospace
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James Patton
Air Force Research Laboratory
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Joseph Coombs
Air Force Research Laboratory
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Judy A. Fennelly
AFRL
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Ivan Linscott
Stanford University
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Umran S Inan
Stanford University, USA
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Abstract

The Very Low Frequency (VLF) Propagation Mapper (VPM) is a 6U CubeSat designed to measure VLF radio waves in Low-Earth Orbit. The science goals of the VPM mission are to measure VLF signals broadcast by the DSX mission, and to study natural and anthropogenic signals (from lightning and VLF transmitters) in the near-Earth space environment. The primary payload consists of an electric field dipole antenna deployed to 2 meters in length, and a magnetic search coil deployed 50 cm from the spacecraft. Signals from these two sensors are conditioned by analog electronics, sampled, and then processed digitally into downloadable data products. The VPM mission was launched in January 2020; science operations began in March 2020 and continued through September, when contact with the spacecraft was lost. This paper describes the mission goals and instrument designs in detail, as well as some examples of the VPM dataset.