at Department of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology andat Department of Physics have developed a 50 kg class micro-satellite "HIBARI". The purpose of this satellite is to demonstrate the on-orbit technology of "VSAC" (Variable Shape Attitude Control), which is an attitude control and orbit control system using variable shapes of satellite. The experiment will be conducted to change the attitude by recoiling when the four movable solar array paddles are moved. By expanding and contracting the paddles, we will be able to adjust the atmospheric drag, which we believe can be applied not only to attitude control but also to orbit control.

HIBARI has been selected as a demonstration theme for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-2, and is scheduled to be launched by the Epsilon Launch Vehicle No. 5 from the Uchinoura Space Center in October 2021 or later. The planned injection orbit is a sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of 547 km at perigee, 565 km at apogee, and 9:30 a.m. local sun time at the accretion point. In addition to small cameras to check the operation of the paddles, a visible light telescope for precise attitude guidance, and an ultraviolet camera jointly developed with are onboard as observation equipment. The mission is planned to capture ultraviolet radiation from auroras over the North and South Poles, and to observe the interaction between the Earth's magnetosphere and charged particles.