CURIE: Low Frequency Radio Interferometry from Space

Earth's ionospheric cut-off at ~10MHz provides a natural barrier below which we cannot receive radio waves originating from a wide variety of radio sources. We present here on the CUbesat Radio Interferometer Experiment (CURIE), a two-element radio interferometer which is scheduled to launch in 2023 to be the first mission to resolve radio sources below the ionospheric-cutoff. The mission consists of two identical Cubesats that will operate in low Earth orbit separated by a baseline of <10 km. Each satellite receives radiation through a set of five 2.5 meter antennas coupled to radio receivers (derived from the Parker Solar Probe FIELDS/RFS instrument) which are sensitive at 1-20 MHz. Coupled with the atomic clock timekeeping and GPS knowledge of the separation of the satellites, the instrument can resolve radio sources with a resolution of 2-3 arcmins. At these frequencies we will study Type II and Type III radio bursts emitted during solar flares and coronal mass ejections, alongside a wide range of astronomical sources. CURIE also serves as a pathfinder mission for radio interferometry in space. Successful demonstration of CURIE will pave the way for future missions with significantly greater number of baselines and thus the ability to image the radio sky below the ionospheric cutoff.