The small spacecraft is currently en route aboard the ISS

Jul 25, 2012 12:57 GMT  ·  By
This rendition shows what FITSAT-1's signals could look like from Earth's surface
   This rendition shows what FITSAT-1's signals could look like from Earth's surface

Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) say that a small satellite capable of writing Morse Code in the night sky is currently heading towards the International Space Station (ISS), aboard its third H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-3).

The unmanned space capsule launched on July 20, from the Tanegashima Space Center, and will arrive at the orbital lab on Friday, July 27. Its main cargo is made up of food, water, fuel and scientific experiments for the six members of ISS' Expedition 32 crew.

Hitching along for the ride is FITSAT-1, a CubeSat weighing around 3 pounds (1.33 kilograms). Its primary mission will be to demonstrated whether or not it can use its bright and powerful onboard light-emitting diodes (LED) to write the dots and lines of Morse Code onto the sky.

Basically, what JAXA wants is to have this satellite emit optical signals from space, at such an intensity that they would be visible with the naked eye, or small binoculars. HTV-3 carries several small satellites in addition to this one.

All these tiny spacecraft will be stored aboard the station until September, when JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide will use the robotic arm on the Japanese-built ISS Kibo module to deploy them into low-Earth orbit (LEO) one by one, Space reports.

The purpose of FITSAT-1 inscribing dots and lines on the night sky will be to test new, satellite-based optical communications techniques. The CubeSat bears the name of the Fukuoka Institute of Technology (FIT), the institution that created it.

FIT professor of computer science and engineering, Takushi Tanaka, who was also the leader of the development effort, is convinced that the CubeSat will behave admirably in space. He says that the spacecraft will most likely be deployed on September 6.

If successful, the optical tests may set the stage for the development of new communication methods, covering the links between satellites and their ground station. This could be very useful for a variety of applications, including surveillance, security, global positioning, land management and so on.

At the same time, the spacecraft employing such a system would have more power left over after communicating with Earth. The technology is currently still in its earliest phases, but JAXA and FIT investigators are convinced their efforts will pay off.