Evaluating an Ionosphere Sensing Capability on Suborbital Launch Vehicles

Austin Hunter, Penina Axelrad, Viliam Klein, H. Todd Smith

Abstract:	Sensing the ionosphere is critical for space weather monitoring, global positioning, and timing solutions. Ground stations and orbiting satellites provide the majority of ionospheric measurements. However, one portion of the ionosphere, the D/E region (80-100 km altitude), is much more difficult to measure due to the difficulty of placing sensors at that altitude. In this study, we present a novel method for routine, low-cost ionospheric sensing of the D/E region that will be implemented on an upcoming Blue Origin suborbital flight. The method uses GNSS receiver measurements along with a dual-frequency total electron content (TEC) post-processing algorithm. The novel geometry of this launch profile is shown to have potential benefits for remote sensing measurements. This study validates the proposed method by examining ground station data, particularly during the May 2024 geomagnetic storm, as well as a simulated suborbital flight scenario. Ionospheric sensing from suborbital launch vehicles appears to be a promising method as we await the upcoming flight.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025) September 8 - 12, 2025 Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor Baltimore, Maryland
Pages:	3211 - 3226
Cite this article:	Hunter, Austin, Axelrad, Penina, Klein, Viliam, Smith, H. Todd, "Evaluating an Ionosphere Sensing Capability on Suborbital Launch Vehicles," Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025), Baltimore, Maryland, September 2025, pp. 3211-3226. https://doi.org/10.33012/2025.20344
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