Orbital IBEX User Manual

LEO

Heliophysics

IBEX

Interstellar Boundary Explorer

FACTS AT A GLANCE

Mission Description

As part of a Southwest Research Institute team led by Principal Investigator Dr. David McComas,

Orbital was selected in January 2005 to develop, build and launch a small spacecraft for NASA’s

Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission. The spacecraft is based on Orbital’s LEOStar-1™

spacecraft product line.

The IBEX satellite orbits the Earth every eight days on a highly-elliptical path that takes it to an apogee

of 320,000 kilometers (approximately 80 percent of the distance to the Moon) to make the rst

comprehensive map of the boundary between our Solar System and interstellar space. Measuring

this interstellar interaction is important for understanding our protection from galactic cosmic rays –

energetic particles from beyond the Solar System – that could pose health risks to future astronauts

exploring deep space.

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IBEX was launched on October 19, 2008, aboard Orbital's Pegasus

Kwajalein Atoll launch site in the central Pacic Ocean. The spacecraft incorporated an on-board

solid rocket motor and hydrazine propulsion system to propel it to the nal high-altitude orbit beyond

Earth’s magnetosphere, as required by IBEX’s scientic instrument.

launch vehicle from the

Spacecraft

The IBEX spacecraft is based on Orbital’s highly reliable LEOStar-1 spacecraft platform, subsystems

and supporting software, which has a proven track record of success on a total of 45 missions.

The payload consists of two narrow angle image sensors (IBEX-Hi and IBEX-Lo) and a Combined

Electronics Unit (CEU).

IBEX's orbit takes it up to 200,000 miles

from Earth.

Six months into its mission, IBEX

surveyed the entire sky to reveal the

structure of the edges of our solar

system.

Mission:

NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) Program

Customer:

Southwest Research Institute –

San Antonio, Texas

IBEX in Orbital's Dulles, Virginia satellite
manufacturing facility

IBEX

Specications

Spacecraft

Mass: <110 kg (243 lb.)

Power: <85 W

Stabilization: Sun-pointing major axis spinner

Orbit: 7,000 km perigee altitude, 50 Earth-radii apogee altitude

Mission Life: 24 months (baseline mission)

Payload

Two single pixel image sensors (IBEX-Hi and IBEX-Lo)

Combined Electronics Unit (CEU)

Launch

Launch Vehicle: Pegasus

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XL

Site: Kwajalein, Marshall Islands

Date: October 19, 2008

IBEX Mission

In its elliptical orbit around the Earth, the IBEX spacecraft is pointed towards the

sun, and spins continuously. Two narrow angle image sensors (IBEX-Hi and IBEX-

Lo) are positioned perpendicular to the spin axis. These special imagers detect

neutral atoms from the solar system’s outer edge, enabling scientists to map the

boundary between our Solar System and interstellar space.

Mission Partners

Southwest Research Institute

Principal investigator, mission management, science

instruments and operations

Orbital Sciences Corporation

Spacecraft and launch vehicle design, fabrication, test,

launch operations, and mission operations

Additional Partners

Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center

Applied Physics Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Alliant Techsystems

University of New Hampshire

Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum

Orbital Sciences Corporation

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