Payload (satellite)
SOCRATES
JapanSOCRATES is a satellite launched 2014-05-24 by Japan.
About
SOCRATES or Space Optical Communications Research Advanced Technology Satellite is a Japanese small satellite launched in 2014. The satellite is purely a technology demonstrator designed by NICT intended to help AES company to gain experience in basic mission control, attitude control and spacecraft communications. Its main experiment is SOTA, an optical small satellite communications demonstrator. All subsystems of spacecraft are powered by solar cells mounted on spacecraft body and stub wings, with estimated electrical power of 120W BOL degrading to 100W EOL.
Right now
Dotted: where it has been. Solid: the next orbit and a half. Orbit data from CelesTrak, map from NASA Blue Marble. All credits