Related papers: CubeSats as pathfinders for planetary detection: t…

HERMES-Pathfinder is a space-borne mission based on a constellation of six nano-satellites flying in a low-Earth orbit. The 3U CubeSats, to be launched in early 2025, host miniaturized instruments with a hybrid Silicon Drift…

Astronomical observations in the X-ray band are subject to atmospheric attenuation and have to be performed in the space. CubeSats offer a cost effective means for space-based X-ray astrophysics but allow only limited mass and volume. In…

A fleet of nanosatellites using precise timing synchronization provided by the Global Positioning System is a new concept for monitoring the gamma-ray sky that can achieve both all-sky coverage and good localization accuracy. We are…

Here we describe the mission design for SMART-2/LISA Pathfinder. The best trade-off between the requirements of a low-disturbance environment and communications distance is found to be a free-insertion Lissajous orbit around the first…

At a fraction the total cost of an equivalent orbital mission, scientific balloon-borne platforms, operating above 99.7% of the Earth's atmosphere, offer attractive, competitive, and effective observational capabilities -- namely space-like…

CubeSats are routinely used for low-cost photometry from space. Space-borne spectroscopy, however, is still the exclusive domain of much larger platforms. Key astrophysical questions in e.g. stellar physics and exoplanet research require…

Formation-flying studies to date have required continuous and minute corrections of the orbital elements and attitudes of the spacecraft.This increases the complexity, and associated risk, of controlling the formation, which often makes…

We present the architectural concept for the Far-Infrared Enhanced Survey Spectrometer (FIRESS) for the Probe Mission for far-IR Astrophysics (PRIMA). FIRESS spans the 24--235 micron range with four R ~ 100 slit-fed grating modules, each…

CubeSats are excellent platforms to rapidly perform simple space experiments. Several hundreds of CubeSats have already been successfully launched in the past few years and the number of announced launches grows every year. These platforms…

Autonomous navigation is one of the main enabling technologies for future space missions. While conventional spacecraft are navigated through ground stations, their employment for deep-space CubeSats yields costs comparable to those of the…

CubeSats have the potential to expand astrophysical discovery space, complementing ground-based electromagnetic and gravitational-wave observatories. The CubeSat design specifications help streamline delivery of instrument payloads to…

The Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS) is a NASA-funded 6U-CubeSat mission designed to monitor ultraviolet (UV) radiation from low-mass stars. These stars' relatively high-frequency and high-energy UV flares significantly affect…

We report results of a recently-completed pre-Formulation Phase study of SPIRIT, a candidate NASA Origins Probe mission. SPIRIT is a spatial and spectral interferometer with an operating wavelength range 25 - 400 microns. SPIRIT will…

The Space Interferometry Mission PlanetQuest Light (or SIM-Lite) is a new concept for a space borne astrometric instrument, to be located in a solar Earth-trailing orbit. SIM-Lite utilizes technology developed over the past ten years for…

We present the science drivers for the Far-Infrared Enhanced Survey Spectrometer (FIRESS), one of two science instrument on the PRobe Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA). FIRESS is designed to meet science objectives in the areas of…

The integration of CubeSats with Free Space Optical (FSO) links accelerates a major advancement in high-throughput, low-Earth orbit communication systems. However, CubeSats face challenges such as size, weight, and power (SWaP) limitations,…

The Fizeau Interferometer Testbed (FIT) is a collaborative effort between NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the Naval Research Laboratory, Sigma Space Corporation, and the University of Maryland. The testbed will be used to explore the…

Lithium niobate is a multi-functional material, which has been regarded as one of the most promising platform for the multi-purpose optical components and photonic circuits. Targeting at the miniature optical components and systems, lithium…

We present a new and innovative near-infrared multi-band ultraprecise spectroimager (NIMBUS) for SOFIA. This design is capable of characterizing a large sample of extrasolar planet atmospheres by measuring elemental and molecular abundances…

The BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) Constellation is the first nanosatellite mission applied to astrophysical research. Five satellites in low-Earth orbits perform precise optical two-colour photometry of the brightest stars in the night…