English

The CUSP CubeSat mission for space weather multi-physics analysis, design, and testing

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics 2026-07-31 v1 Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Space Physics
Authors: Giovanni Lombardi , Riccardo Di Spirito , Sergio Fabiani , Daniele Censi , Giovanni De Cesare , Ettore Del Monte , Riccardo Campana , Enrico Costa , Mauro Centrone , Nicolas De Angelis , Sergio Di Cosimo , Giuseppe Di Persio , Abhay Kumar , Pasqualino Loffredo , Gabriele Minervini , Fabio Muleri , Paolo Romano , Alda Rubini , Emanuele Scalise , Paolo Soffitta , Andrea Alimenti , Enrico Silva , Bruna Bertucci , Giovanni Ambrosi , Giovanni Cucinella , Vito Di Bari , Simone Di Filippo , Andrea Negri , Massimo Perelli , Dario Modenini , Andrea Curatolo , Nicolas Gagliardi , Daniele Pecorella , Alice Ponti , Paolo Tortora , Andrea Del Re , Davide Albanesi , Valerio Campamaggiore , Giulia De Iulis , Adam Ebrahim , Marco Schepis , Alessandro Zambardi , Ilaria Baffo , Pierluigi Fanelli , Costantino Zazza , Valerio Vagelli , Daniele Brienza , Immacolata Donnarumma , Matteo Mergè , Emanuele Zaccagnino , Alessandro Turchi
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Abstract

The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) mission aims to measure the linear polarization of solar flares in the hard X-ray band by means of a Compton scattering polarimeter. CUSP is a project in the framework of the Alcor Program of the Italian Space Agency aimed at developing new CubeSat missions. We present the outcomes of the CUSP's Phase B study, which is ended on 2 July 2026. The design solutions adopted for the mission's most critical multi-physics design drivers will be discussed, these solutions have been formulated and applied to demonstrate compliance with system requirements at both the spacecraft and platform levels. Moreover, we will discuss the validation of the Payload model based on the environmental testing campaign (e.g., vibration) carried out on a demonstrator.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.29264,
  title  = {The CUSP CubeSat mission for space weather multi-physics analysis, design, and testing},
  author = {Giovanni Lombardi and Riccardo Di Spirito and Sergio Fabiani and Daniele Censi and Giovanni De Cesare and Ettore Del Monte and Riccardo Campana and Enrico Costa and Mauro Centrone and Nicolas De Angelis and Sergio Di Cosimo and Giuseppe Di Persio and Abhay Kumar and Pasqualino Loffredo and Gabriele Minervini and Fabio Muleri and Paolo Romano and Alda Rubini and Emanuele Scalise and Paolo Soffitta and Andrea Alimenti and Enrico Silva and Bruna Bertucci and Giovanni Ambrosi and Giovanni Cucinella and Vito Di Bari and Simone Di Filippo and Andrea Negri and Massimo Perelli and Dario Modenini and Andrea Curatolo and Nicolas Gagliardi and Daniele Pecorella and Alice Ponti and Paolo Tortora and Andrea Del Re and Davide Albanesi and Valerio Campamaggiore and Giulia De Iulis and Adam Ebrahim and Marco Schepis and Alessandro Zambardi and Ilaria Baffo and Pierluigi Fanelli and Costantino Zazza and Valerio Vagelli and Daniele Brienza and Immacolata Donnarumma and Matteo Mergè and Emanuele Zaccagnino and Alessandro Turchi},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.29264},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

10 pages, 8 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2026 proceeding