Yodaka (AE1b)

Yodaka (AE1b) [ArkEdgeSpace]

AE1b or Yodaka is a Japanese 6U CubeSat technology and cultural demonstration satellite manufactured by ArkEdge Space for the �UP Hanamaki Space Project.� The satellite was designed to demonstrate a standardized 6U small-satellite bus while conducting a public participation experiment that generates Japanese tanka poems from messages transmitted from the ground.

The mission formed part of a regional outreach initiative organized by the companies Space BD and SPACE VALUE to promote space activities in Hanamaki, Japan. Students from Hanamaki Kita High School helped design the payload concept. Ground users transmit upper and lower phrases of traditional Japanese tanka poems separately; the satellite combines these fragments in orbit to produce randomly paired poems. The spacecraft can also relay messages and collect observational data, demonstrating interactive communications between users and a nanosatellite.

Yodaka was built by ArkEdge Space using the company�s newly developed standardized 6U satellite bus intended for rapid production of nanosatellites and constellation applications. The platform integrates multiple onboard computers, including a main processor based on the Renesas SH-2A architecture and several subsystem controllers built around Microchip PIC32MX microcontrollers. Electrical power is supplied by deployable solar panels mounted on the satellite body. The spacecraft carries communication systems operating in several frequency bands to transmit telemetry and mission data to ground stations.

The satellite has the form of a rectangular CubeSat approximately 10 � 20 � 30 cm in size corresponding to the 6U standard. After deployment it operated in a low Earth orbit with an inclination of about 51.6�. Orbital altitude ranged roughly between 400 and 420 km following release from the International Space Station.

Yodaka was launched on 5 November 2024 aboard a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A as part of the commercial Dragon CRS-31 resupply mission to the International Space Station (SpX-31). The spacecraft was transported to the station inside the cargo vehicle and later deployed on 9 December 2024 from the Japanese Experiment Module using the J-SSOD small-satellite deployer. The satellite remained in orbit for several months and reentered the atmosphere on 28 February 2025.