A modified smc PENTAX-DA ★ 300mm f/4ED [IF] SDM lens was installed in the 6U CubeSat Kitsune satellite for high-resolution photos and sent to space

smc PENTAX-DA ★ 300mm f/4ED [IF] SDM lens

Customized Pentax lens for satellite mounting

Completed satellite with Pentax lens

A modified smc PENTAX-DA ★ 300mm f/4ED [IF] SDM lens was installed in the 6U CubeSat Kitsune satellite for high-resolution photos and sent to space. The first pictures will be posted online soon. Additional information (Google translated):

Pentax’s telephoto lens becomes the eye of a microsatellite and goes into space

Challenge to high-resolution earth photography on the 6U CubeSat “KITSUNE”

Ricoh Imaging’s interchangeable lens for APS-C digital SLR cameras “smc PENTAX-DA ★ 300mmF4ED [IF] SDM” has been selected as the shooting lens for the 6U Cube Sat satellite “KITSUNE”. We will inform you that we will verify the resolution shooting.

“KITSUNE” was launched on February 20, 2022 by the Antares rocket in the United States, and was successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS). In the future, after being released into satellite orbit from the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” on the ISS, various demonstration experiments will be conducted, such as taking images with a resolution of 5 meters using a camera for observing the earth and high-speed communication using a C-band communication device. Will be.

About “KITSUNE” project, CubeSat

“KITSUNE” is manufactured by a consortium of three parties, Addnics Corp. (Hachioji City, Tokyo) and Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture), with Harada Seiki Co., Ltd. (Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture) as the managing company. It is a “wide 6U” size cube sat satellite.

CubeSat is a cube (1U) with a side of about 10 cm, and “Wide 6U” is a rectangular parallelepiped with a side of about 10 x 20 x 30 cm. This time, the main camera with the “smc PENTAX-DA ★ 300mmF4ED [IF] SDM” lens occupies about half the volume of the satellite.

Reasons for selecting “smc PENTAX-DA ★ 300mmF4ED [IF] SDM”

1. When selecting a lens, there is no need to worry about outgas Note 1 from resin because the lens barrel components are made of metal.
2. It has high resolution performance (resolution 5m from 400km above) required for shooting.
3. It must be a compact design that fits into the satellite unit standard.

Our lenses were selected because they meet the above conditions and are commercially available products that can be procured at low cost.

Note 1 : Gas released from organic materials in a vacuum environment. Due to the emitted outgas, there is a concern that the accuracy of data and the quality of images may deteriorate in optical instruments.

Message from Mr. Hirotoshi Harada, President and CEO of Harada Seiki Co., Ltd., who was in charge of manufacturing optical imaging equipment for earth observation

The artificial satellites that are needed now are those that are easy to use and have low hurdles to use.
This satellite is intended for entertainment and academic use. When it came to making satellites that were easy to use and cheap, it was necessary to adapt them to space equipment using consumer products. Only with joint research with Ricoh Imaging, the KITSUNE satellite could take a step forward in the field of new artificial satellites. If there is an artificial satellite that many people can feel free to use with a sense of play, the use will increase.
By doing so, we can think that we can contribute to the information industry that is closer to people’s lives. (source)