Related papers: Optical Navigation for Interplanetary CubeSats

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,…

CubeSats are tiny satellites with increasing capabilities. They have been used for more than a decade by universities to train students on space technologies, in a hands-on project aiming at building, launching and operating a real…

The exponential rise in small-satellites and CubeSats in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) poses important challenges for future space traffic management. At altitudes of 600 km and lower, aerodynamic drag accelerates de-orbiting of satellites.…

AcubeSAT is an open-source CubeSat mission aiming to explore the effects of microgravity and radiation on eukaryotic cells using a compact microfluidic LoC platform. It is developed by SpaceDot, a volunteer, interdisciplinary student team…

Small satellite communications recently entered a period of massive interest driven by the uprising space applications. CubeSats are particularly attractive due to their low development costs which makes them very promising in playing a…

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…

Deciphering the genesis and evolution of the Martian polar caps can provide crucial understanding of Mars' climate system. The growing scientific interest for the exploration of Mars at high latitudes, and the need of minimizing the…

This study evaluates a technique for determining the mass of a potentially hazardous asteroid from a high-speed flyby in the context of a rapid reconnaissance planetary defense scenario. We consider a host spacecraft that dispenses a small…

AEROS aims to develop a nanosatellite as a precursor of a future system of systems, which will include assets and capabilities of both new and existing platforms operating in the Ocean and Space, equipped with state-of-the-art sensors and…

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…

The observation of the low-energy $\gamma$-ray (0.1-30 MeV) sky has been significantly limited since the COMPTEL instrument was decommissioned aboard the Compton Gamma-ray Observer (CGRO) satellite in 2000. The exploration of $\gamma$-ray…

Seventy-five billion low-mass stars in our galaxy host at least one small planet in their habitable zone (HZ). The stellar ultraviolet (UV) radiation received by the planets is strong and highly variable, and has consequences for…

CubeSats offer a flexible and low-cost option to increase the scientific and technological return of small-body exploration missions. ESA's Hera mission, the European component of the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA)…

CubeSat technology is an emerging alternative to large-scale space telescopes due to its short development time and cost-effectiveness. MeVCube is a proposed CubeSat mission to study the least explored MeV gamma-ray sky, also known as the…

AcubeSAT is an open-source CubeSat mission aiming to explore the effects of microgravity and radiation on eukaryotic cells using a compact microfluidic lab-on-a-chip platform. It is developed by SpaceDot, a volunteer, interdisciplinary…

Recent years have seen the rapid deployment of low-cost CubeSats in low-Earth orbit, primarily for research, education, and Earth observation. The vast majority of these CubeSats experience significant latency (several hours) from the time…

We have performed an initial stage conceptual design study for the Deep Interior Scanning CubeSat (DISCUS), a tandem 6U CubeSat carrying a bistatic radar as main payload. DISCUS will be operated either as an independent mission or…

This study presents an autonomous orbit determination system based on crosslink radiometric measurements applied to a future lunar CubeSat mission to clearly highlight its advantages with respect to existing ground-based navigation…

As space agencies are planning manned missions to reach Mars, researchers need to pave the way for supporting astronauts during their sojourn. This will also be achieved by providing broadband and low-latency connectivity through wireless…

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…