The satellite was the first of three missions developed within the Student Explorer Demonstration Initiative (STEDI) program funded by the NASA and managed by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA).

STEDI was a pilot program to demonstrate that high-quality space science can be carried out with small, low-cost (

[5] The satellite was developed by the University of Colorado Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and had met its goals by the time its mission ended with reentry in December 2003.

Nitric oxide, though a minor component of this region of space, has a significant impact on the composition of ions in the ionosphere and in the heat of the thermosphere.

[4] It span at 5 rpm with the spin axis normal to the orbit plane and carried three instruments: an ultraviolet spectrometer to measure nitric oxide altitude profiles, a two-channel auroral photometer to measure auroral emissions beneath the spacecraft, and a five-channel solar soft X-ray photometer.

The SNOE spacecraft and its instrument complement were designed, built, and operated entirely at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) of the University of Colorado Boulder.

Each of the five photometer channels contains a silicon photodiode; wavelength selection is accomplished by thin metallic films deposited onto the diode surface.

[10] The objective of the ultraviolet spectrometer (UVS) is to measure the density of nitric oxide in the terrestrial upper atmosphere (thermosphere) by observing the (1,0) and (0,1) gamma bands.

The UVS design is similar to instruments flown on the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME), Pioneer Venus Orbiter, and several launch vehicles.

[2] SNOE re-entered the atmosphere on 13 December 2003 at 09:34 UTC (± 6 minutes), descending over 2.9° South, 273.8° East, on orbit 32248, after 5 years and 290 days.