Overview
AMPPS is a charged particle spectrometer designed for use on CubeSats and sounding rockets. Its mission is to fly through active regions of Earth’s magnetosphere and record the rapidly changing flux of electrons and ions responsible for the aurora and other space weather. Space weather can be disruptive, or potentially destructive towards satellites. Studying these particles can help us better understand Earth’s space weather and forecast its potential problems to minimize impact.
AMPPS will use a hemispherical electrostatic analyzer of the type developed by C.W. Carlson. It accepts particles from all around a planar field of view, and guides them down to a circular detector region, while also differentiating the particle’s kinetic energies. The charged particles are then directed toward a stack of Micro-Channel Plates, which multiply the particle’s signal to be measurable.
Design
AMPPS takes full advantage of the CubeSat form factor’s “Tuna Can”, a 64mm diameter cylindrical open volume above the Z- face of the cube, which allows extra space for instruments to protrude beyond the structural rails. AMPPS will be approximately 50mm in total height, but a large portion of that is in the tuna can, leaving more space in the cube for other systems.
AMPPS will likely work on a 1.5U cube, and may even work on 1U. However, AMPPS is more suited to larger CubeSats to allow for more solar power, and more reliable attitude control.
Flight Opportunities
Black And Diffuse Auroral Science Surveyor (BADASS) – February 9th, 2026