Name

CIRCE-2

Satellite ID

XRQT-1510-6197-3499-1107

Temporary NORAD ID

99296

Followed NORAD ID

None

Website

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/circe-space-weather-suite-announced-for-first-uk-satellite-launch

Country of Origin

United States of America

The CIRCE satellite mission comprises two 6U CubeSats that will be launched into a near-polar low Earth orbit in a string-of-pearls configuration (targeting 555 km altitude). Each 6U satellite bus measures 10 x 20 x 30 cm (the size of a cereal box), and will fly almost identical instrument capability on both satellites. Dstl is partnering with the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) on the joint mission.

The UK contribution to CIRCE is the In-situ and Remote Ionospheric Sensing (IRIS) suite, complementary to NRL sensors and comprising 3 highly miniaturised payloads developed for Dstl by University College London (UCL), University of Bath, and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), drawing on expertise from the University of Surrey. CIRCE will characterise a region of the space environment, the ionosphere, which is important for a range of defence and civil applications and can impact GPS, communications and sensing technology – both in space and on the ground.