The CASPER mission

Chasing ghosts in the atmosphere

Summer School Alpbach, 21.07.2022

Authors: Lou Byrne, Ulrik Falk-Petersen, Ali A. Hamdoun,

Gwendal Hénaff, Kilian Huber, Ilas Andreea Nicoleta,
Manuel Maurer, Nadja Reisinger, Jonas Sinjan, Crisel
Suarez, András Szilágy-Sándor, Vertti Tarvus, Marialina
Tsinidis, Mikhail Vaganov

Tutors: Günter Kargl, Iannis Dandouras

Abstract
and ISS) had spatial, temporal and measurement
CASPER is a two satellite scientific mission limitations.
operating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). It aims to
answer key questions concerned with Transient Another related phenomenon, Terrestrial Gamma
Luminous Events (TLEs) and Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes (TGFs) are also linked to TLEs and
Ray Flashes (TGFs). Specifically, the mission will thunderstorms. With the discovery of these events
constrain the characteristics and origin of such several theories emerged to explain the formation
events. Furthermore, their role in the global mechanism and their role in the global energy
electric circuit and the coupling between different balance. Moreover, their impact is believed to
layers of the atmosphere will be investigated. The include [2]:
mission will be using a train of two spacecraft in a
sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 98°. ● Spontaneous transfers of energy from
The nominal lifetime of the mission is five years, Troposphere to the Ionosphere
with a possible extension of the mission in respect ● A role in the chemical balance in the upper
with the operational status of the instruments. atmosphere
Both satellites will carry the same payload; three ● Contribution to the perturbation of the
low speed, high resolution cameras in various population in radiation belts
wavelengths as well as four high speed low ● New plasma physics mechanisms
resolution sensors responsible for triggering the
recording of data. Finally, the electron flux from 1.2 Scientific Background
these events will also be measured in order to
constrain the role of TLEs and TGFs in the global Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) have a typical
electric circuit. lifespan of 0.5 ms to 5.0 ms, however, they vary
greatly depending on the specific type of TLE.
1 Background Information The events can reach up to 500 km in width,
though most are smaller than 200 km [3,4,5]. The
1.1 Introduction phenomena appears in altitudes between 20 and
100 km above ground and are more common in
Predicted by C.T.R. Wilson in 1925 [1], Transient latitudes ranging from -65° to 65° which can be
Luminous Events (TLE) is a bright, short-lived seen in Figure 1. [6,7]. There is one main theory
atmospheric phenomena, which was captured for concerning the formation mechanism of TLEs,
the first time in 1989. Since then, many different called the Quasi-Electrostatic (QE) Model. Due to
types have been identified. Previous surveys conventional cloud-to-ground (CG) discharges
suggest that there is a connection between during thunderstorms, a rapid change in charge
thunderstorms and TLEs, however, the exact distribution occurs, creating a quasi-electrostatic
mechanisms are not yet clear, as the data retrieved field which is 2-3 times stronger than the
from previous missions (ground, aircraft, balloon conventional breakdown field. [8,9]. Random

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triggering events can then cause TLEs, these may have characteristics comparable to TLEs on Earth.
include CG-lightning, Cosmic Rays and [22]. Additional understanding of TLEs and TGFs
precipitated electrons from the Van Allen Belt and on Earth will inform us of the interaction between
micrometeors [3,10,11,12]. The triggers increase the atmospheres of other planets and their
the electric field, which causes upward magnetized environments.
propagating electrons, ambient heating and
ionization in the upper atmosphere and thus 2. Science Case
emissions. However, this model cannot explain
certain characteristics of TLEs, such as 2.1 Scientific Objectives
occasionally observed spatial and temporal
disconnections from the thunderstorm. [13,14]. The goal of the mission is to study upper
Furthermore, different types of TLEs exhibit atmospheric discharges to gain understanding of
different behaviors, Elves, for example, occur their origin and their role in the interaction
primarily above oceans, while sprites occur more between atmosphere, ionosphere and
often above land. [15]. magnetosphere. These are expressed in the
following science objectives (SO) with
Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes (TGFs) are sub-science objectives (SSO):
intense gamma ray emissions with an extremely
short lifetime of 10µs to 100µs . The mechanism SO-1: Constrain the mechanism by which TLEs
is similar to that for TLEs, however, the accepted and TGFs originate and their link
theory proposes that electrons are accelerated to
relativistic energies in a runaway avalanche effect SSO-1: Characterize the spatial and temporal
[16]. The Fermi mission measured single photon connection between thunderstorms, TGFs and
energies of up to 40 MeV. [17,18]. They have TLEs
been observed to be correlated with lightning. .
[19,20]. SO-2: Constrain the extent to which TLEs and
TGFs play a role in the interaction between the
Atmosphere, Ionosphere and Magnetosphere

SSO-2: Quantify the energy transfer to the upper

atmosphere and space

SO-3: Identify the influence of environmental

conditions

SSO-3: Measure data over a spectrum of different

environmental conditions, including but not
limited to: solar cycle, sea surface temperature,
geographic position, global distribution.
Figure 1: Global Distribution of TLEs using data
gained from ISUAL [6].
2.2 Scientific Requirements
1.3 Comparative Aspect The following scientific requirements have been
designed to satisfy the aforementioned scientific
Theoretical work has predicted that TLEs should objectives.
be present on other planets [21]. In fact, the Juno SR-1: Global Mapping of TLEs and TGFs
mission observed 11 bright flashes with an
SR-2: Spatially resolve TLEs horizontally and
average duration of 1.4ms at 260km altitude
above Jupiter's 1-bar-level. The measured events vertically
SR-3: Temporally resolve TLEs and TGFs

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SR-4: Measure energy spectrum of the TLEs and Nitrogen. Previous studies have suggested that
TGFs this band is not contaminated by lightning due to
SR-5: Detect electron flux from TLEs and TGFs absorption, while still being one of the strongest
emission lines of TLEs. [7]
SR-6: Discriminate downward from upward
electron fluxes MR-5 and MR-6 will be used to discriminate
SR-7: Identify lightning events downward- from upward propagating electrons to
determine their origin. Previous studies suggest
2.3 Measurement Requirements electrons originating from TLEs and TGFs to
have energies of 10 keV to 10 MeV and electrons
The measurement requirements translate the precipitating from the Van Allen Belt have
scientific requirements into tangible instructions, energies of 30 keV to 300 keV. [23] (upper limit),
which can be used to help answer these [24] (lower limit), [25], [26] (both Van Allen
requirements. Belt).

MR-1: Vertical Structure From the ISUAL global survey [6], global
MR-2: Minimum Spatial Resolution of 0.5 km detection rates per min for different types of TLEs
(horizontal & vertical) were calculated. With our desired field of view of
512x512km on the Tropopause and mission
MR-3: Minimum Temporal Resolution of 0.3 ms
profile, 0.09 % of the area where TLEs and TGFs
MR-4: Observational wavelengths required: (762 are known to detect, will be covered by our
nm, 777 nm, 150-280 nm, Gamma Ray to 10 spacecraft per minute when our instruments are
MeV, X-Rays from 20 keV) operating. Extrapolated to our total mission orbit,
MR-5: Upwards Propagating Electrons (10 this results in approximately 2500 TLEs. Finally
keV-40 MeV) the TGFs detected per day are from the ASIM
MR-6: Downwards propagating electrons (30 mission. The mission detected 0.7 TGFs per day,
taking our more inclined orbit into account, we
keV-300 keV
estimate 0.5 TGFs per day [31]. Since Gigantic
Jets are the rarest type, to detect at least 20 such
Key reasoning regarding MR-4, MR-5 and MR-6 events, an operating time of at least 4 years is
required. These estimations are conservative
One of the most prevalent wavelengths of TLEs estimates, as empirical data from ISUAL implies
(762.7 nm) lies near the O2 absorption line of to expect an average of 10 Gigantic Jets per year.
761.9 nm. Therefore a considerable amount of
lightning will be absorbed by the atmosphere. Table 1: Expected Detected Events
To further discriminate between lightning and
TLEs, we introduce a three high-resolution
camera system.

● The first two are centered on 777 nm for

lightning detection, 762 nm for TLEs and TGFs
detection. The same system was proposed for the
TARANIS mission [30] and has successfully been
employed by the LSO (Lightning and Sprite
Observations) experiment on the ISS [2].

● The third camera will be centered on a Far

UV band to observe the LBH
(Lyman-Birge-Hopfield) emission band of
3. Instruments and Mission Concept

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 parameter to control the vertical resolution of the
3.1 Mission profile TLEs and TGFs. This has been estimated to be
42.5° as a compromise between the distance from
We aim to observe TLEs and TGFs with a high the region of interest, reduction of projection
spatial and temporal resolution (MR2, MR3) and effects and vertical resolution.
on several wavelengths for photons (MR4) and
energy ranges for electrons (MR5, MR6). All instruments will observe the same area with
Additionally, we aim to observe the vertical different temporal and spatial resolutions. Based
structure of these events (MR1). We therefore on early calculations, a nominal field of view is of
introduce a mission profile composed of two 40° for the spacecraft pointing nadir and of 12°
spacecraft on a train with identical payloads in for the spacecraft on limb.
order to resolve the vertical structure of these
phenomenons, as shown in Figure 2. 3.2 Instrumentation choice

The payload is selected to fulfill the mission

requirements mentioned in section 2.4 and 3.1.
All instruments are rated TRL 6 or above. The
following instruments in table 2 will be operated
on each spacecraft:

Table 2: Operating instruments

3.3 Instrumentation operation

We aim to observe events at high speed and high

rate following the requirements in section 2.4. We
introduce the concept of trigger instruments
(UPVIS, IPG and IPXI), as shown in Figure 3.
Trigger instruments will have their data
Figure 2: Observation concept of the mission
continuously saved on the flight computer's hard
memory. The ROTCAM systems will
The onboard instrumentation, when combined,
continuously operate and record data on a shift
will answer all measurement requirements. Due to
register based on a first in last out basis, meaning
the technical impossibility to make observations
that it will be filled with the most recent images.
at high speed, high resolution and several
ROTCAM data will be written to the hard
wavelengths with the same technology, separate
memory when trigger instruments detect an event.
instruments will be used, as shown in Figure 2.
The shift register size will be set so that extended
TLEs and TGFs can be properly recorded.
The UV, IR, Visible observations will be done at
high resolution. The spacecraft separation
distance, and therefore the angle 𝚯, is the key

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 UPVIS is an optical photometer operating at high
voltage. It is pointed downwards measuring UV,
IR and 750-780 nm at 300 Hz. It has a field of
view of 40° at nadir and 12° at limb.

3.2 Mission Concept

The mission requires both high spatial and

temporal resolution, which are mutually
exclusive. Thus, the instruments will be
cooperating to gain information both in temporal
and spatial distribution. All instruments will be
operating continuously and writing data onto a
circular buffer on a first-in-last-out basis. UPVIS,
Figure 3: On board instrumentation. IPG and IPXI are designed to trigger at a given
intensity threshold, which will be set by scientists,
3.4 Instrumentation details sending a signal to ROTCAM to save the images
from the buffer to hard memory.
ROTCAM is a low-speed, high resolution
instrument composed of three off-the-shelf Furthermore, the two satellites are able to
Teledyne CMOS Cameras able to operate communicate and have synchronized timekeeping
different wavelengths (193-400 nm, 400-700 nm using GPS. If it should occur that only one
and 700-1000 nm), with a frame rate of 60 Hz and satellite detects an event, it will send a signal
a resolution of 1280x1024 px. Resolution will be including the time stamp to the other satellite,
reduced by masking pixels to have an image size triggering the saving of data. The line-of-sight
of 1024x1024px. between the two spacecraft will be 640km: a light
travel time of 2ms, with extra processing steps by
IPG, IPXI and DELEC are sensors in a sandwich the sender and receiver, the communication time
configuration made of two BC-408 plastic will be on the order of 5 ms. With a buffer size of
scintillators enclosing a LaBr3 crystal scintillator 1s, regardless of which spacecraft sends the
and running off a high voltage power supply. trigger signal, the desired frames of interest will
Operating at 300 Hz, they will only record the be in the buffer memory and thus can be written
intensity on one pixel with a field of view of 40° to physical memory.
for the spacecraft pointing nadir and 12° at limb.
LaBr3 scintillators have a response centered on 62 3.3 Data Processing
keV and 332 keV [27], therefore allowing
detection of γ-ray and X-ray. Relativistic electrons On average we expect 15 events/day, from past
can be detected by the stacked plastic layers studies it is known that there are roughly 100
below the LaBr3 crystal. as required by MR-5 and lightning events per TLE/TGF. Lightning only
MR-6. DELEC will be pointing upwards to follow events will be discarded automatically as they will
MR-6. IPG will operate with an X-Ray shield to only trigger UPVIS at 777 nm. However we still
detect only γ-ray photons and relativistic expect false events that trigger several
electrons. IPXI will detect both γ-ray and X-ray photometers. We conservatively estimate 150
photons plus relativistic electrons. Using IPG and false events. As each frame is 3 MB and 30
IPXI simultaneously allows to get the photon frames/event are required for each of the 6
count on both the γ-ray and X-ray bands plus cameras, the expected data volume is 90 GB/day.
electrons between 10 keV to 40 MeV, therefore While this is possible to downlink to ground with
following MR-4 and MR-5. X-band technology, on board data reduction will
be utilized as a redundancy, in case of unexpected
loss or reduced ground communication, allowing

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for scientific operations to continue while ascending node time of 10:30am. To achieve this
downlink is restored. orbit, the spacecraft require a ∆V of 75 m/s for
phase maneuvers, 70 m/s to deorbit and a margin
3.4 Mission Overview of 10 m/s for a total of 155.5 m/s.

SR-2 dictates the necessity for vertical resolution

of TLEs, the satellites will thus be flown in a train
formation, with a set phase angle, such that the
fields of view overlap in the area of interest. Since
the viewing angle between spacecraft is estimated
to be 42.5°, this corresponds to a phase angle of
5.2°. This gives the mission the capability of
performing stereo imaging of TLEs. To ensure
that MR-2 is fulfilled, the required pointing
accuracy is <1°. The coverage achieved with this
setup is 50 % of the surface in one day, 80 % in
two days and 96.5 % in seven days.

4.2 Launch
Figure 4: Payload placement on the spacecraft.
With the low mass of the spacecraft and the
The mission is proposed as an F-Class mission common orbit, it is possible to use a rideshare
with respect to ESA standards. The nominal mission to launch the satellites into orbit. This
mission lifetime will be 5 years in a reduces costs and ensures that both satellites are
sun-synchronous polar orbit. placed in identical orbits before initiating the
plane change. If needed, the mission can also be
4. Space Segment launched on a dedicated launcher that can
accommodate the two spacecraft at the same time,
4.1 Orbit Selection such as the Vega rocket.
In order to meet the requirements mapped out in Considering the growth of the New Space
Section 2, the mission will employ a train of two segment in Europe, there is a possibility that
identical spacecraft, orbiting at an altitude of 670 microlaunchers can support frequent launches in
km with an inclination of 98°. While most a few years’ time. Companies such as Isar and
observations are expected around the equator, the RFA are on track to launch their first rockets from
need for a polar orbit arises from MR-5, and the Andøya in Norway next year, and have a payload
fact that the electrons follow the magnetic field capacity of 1000 kg. [28, 29] These vehicles can
lines. This results in 70 min of observation time bring both satellites to orbit on a single launch, at
per orbit between +65° and -65° of latitude. a very low cost.
Moreover, a sun synchronous orbit has been
chosen to have constant lighting conditions
between successive observations. The orbit height
is limited minimally by atmospheric drag at 500
km and maximally at 800 km by excessive
background radiation. An altitude of 670 km has
been chosen to strike a balance between
maximizing both ground coverage and resolution.

The chosen orbit will have a Right ascension of

ascending note (RAAN) rate of 9.5°/day with 14
passes/day. This implies a period of 96 min and an

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Figure 5: Vega C launch configurations with Two options for a spacecraft bus were considered.
main spacecraft and auxiliary passenger(s) The first was to follow ESA convention and
develop a proprietary spacecraft bus with an
4.3 System and Science Risks integration partner as has been done on most ESA
missions to date. The second was to investigate
The two satellites of the Casper mission are the use of an off-the-shelf bus that meets our
planned to operate at Low Earth Orbit with an system requirements and has sufficient flight
off-the-shelf instrument package rated at TRL 6 or heritage. A number of bus providers were
higher. This means the only specific mission risks considered, including Reorbit’s Gluon bus that
consist of the ability to get the FPGA and CMOS conforms to most system requirements but lacks a
camera space qualified in time. Since the science sufficient solar array configuration to meet the
mission does not depend on a narrow launch power requirements. The NanoAvionics MP42 is
window the consequences would be increased a flight-proven bus that meets all of our system
development cost of the camera system. Aside requirements, with > 20% system margins for
from this, any other risks are standard risks for every requirement. The bus has the following
LEO missions. That includes launch failure and specifications:
system or component damage due to collision
with space debris.

4.4 Operation modes

The mission will have four different Operational

Modes depending on the geographic position.

Mode 1 (Standby): Data Processing phase, the

scientific instruments will be turned off.

Mode 2 (Reduced Operations): Day Pass, the

scintillators and the photometers will be
collecting data, the camera will be in
standby-mode.
Figure 7: NanoAvionics MP42 bus specified to
Mode 3 (Data Link): Reserved for Rx and Tx meet mission requirements.
Data Transmission to Esrange. The scientific
● TLR 9
instruments will be turned off.
● Volume: 500 x 500 x 700 mm
Mode 4 (Full Operations): During night pass, ● X-band TX: 500 Mb/s
all scientific instruments will be recording data. ● Solar Arrays: 237 W
● Bus mass: 45 kg
5. Spacecraft Design & Instrument Integration
● Monoprop thruster: 1N
● Magnetorquer + 4 Reaction wheels.
● ΔV: 170 m/s

5.1. Thermal Control

The thermal control ensures that no on-board

satellite exceeds the operational limits. Due to the
individual operation modes, there are two
different cases for the thermal control system:
Figure 6: Packaging of instruments inside MP42 burst mode for the hot case with a power
dissipation of 30 W and a standby mode for the

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cold case with 8.5 W. The different heat sources The chosen ground station is Esrange, in Kiruna,
for both cases are visible in Table 2. The satellite Sweden. The high Latitude maximizes access
bus is configurable with a 50 W radiator. time. The chosen orbit will have 12 passes/24 hrs
Furthermore there are heaters for critical for a total of 8000 seconds of access per 24 hrs.
components: battery pack, EPS and propulsion Using the X-band downlink with a data rate of
system. 500 Mb/s, the satellites require 1500 seconds of
access per day, which equates to 19% of the total
Table 3: Thermal control system for two cases: available access time. Additionally, the mission
will require 300 TB of ground storage.

5.2.3 Mass Budget

The budget for the total payload mass is 35 kg

and considering spacecraft mass, the total wet
mass is 146 kg. The initial dry mass estimate was
calculated as a ~3x multiple of the payload mass
for this size of mission. The remaining
subsystems were calculated based on a sizing
5.2. Budgets guide from SMAD Space mission engineering
book by Hawthorne, CA, Microcosm Press.
5.2.1 Power
Table 5: Mass Budget
Considering all spacecraft subsystems and a 20%
margin, the power draw is 121 W in burst mode,
the most power-intensive mode of operation. The
details can be seen in Table 2.

Table 4: Power Budget

To accommodate these needs, a battery of 300 Wh

has been chosen in combination with a 238 W
solar array. The battery will be able to charge for
48 min/orbit, equaling 146Wh of charge per orbit.
For the battery, a Beginning of Life (BOL)
efficiency of 30% and an End of Life (EOL)
efficiency of 16% has been assumed which has 5.2.4 Cost Budget
been taken into account when choosing the battery
Similar to the mass budget, the SMAD book was
size.
used to scope the cost of the mission. The mission
5.2.2 Communications Budget segment, from design to launch is 38 million euro.
The largest cost in operating the spacecraft is the

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scientific operations as up to 300 TB of data will atmosphere. Furthermore, various influences of
need to be analyzed by a scientist. The use of a other environmental factors on the formation of
rideshare with the Vega rocket will cut launch TLEs and TGFs can be examined, such as solar
costs to close to ¼ that of a regular launch per cycles, geographic position, sea surface
spacecraft. This brings the total cost of the temperature and global mapping.
mission to 143 million euro over its entire
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