Related papers: Agile Systems Engineering for sub-CubeSat scale sp…
Advances in robotics and additive manufacturing have become game-changing for the prospects of space industry. It has become feasible to bootstrap a self-sustaining, self-expanding industry at reasonably low cost. Simple modeling was…
A Drag-Free CubeSat mission has been proposed to demonstrate the feasibility of a Gravitational Reference Sensor (GRS) with an optical readout for a 3 units (3U) spacecraft. A purely drag-free object is defined by the absence of all…
Cubesats present unique opportunities for observational astronomy in the modern era. They are useful in observing difficult-to-access wavelength regions and long-term monitoring of interesting astronomical sources. However, conventional…
SuperAGILE (SA) is a detection system on board of the AGILE satellite (Astro-rivelatore Gamma a Immagini LEggero), a Gamma-ray astronomy mission approved by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) as first project for the Program for Small…
The exciting possibilities in the field of new quantum technologies extend far beyond the well-reported application of quantum computing. Precision timing, gravity sensors and imagers, cryptography, navigation, metrology, energy harvesting…
The Starshot lightsail project aims to build an ultralight spacecraft ("nanocraft") that can reach Proxima Centauri b in approximately 20 years, requiring propulsion with a relativistic velocity of ~60 000 km/s. The spacecraft's…
The ability to launch small secondary payloads to Mars on future science missions present an exciting opportunity for demonstration of advanced technologies for planetary exploration such as aerocapture. Over the years, several aerocapture…
The emergence of the Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) concept in the last years has revolutionized the space industry. This novel network architecture composed of aircraft and spacecraft is currently being standardized by the 3GPP. This…
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…
Software Engineering Discipline is constantly achieving momentum from past two decades. In last decade, remarkable progress has been observed. New process models that are introduced from time to time in order to keep pace with…
This paper introduces a novel Monte Carlo (MC) method to simulate the evolution of the low-earth orbit environment, enhancing the MIT Orbital Capacity Analysis Tool (MOCAT). In recent decades, numerous space environment models have been…
In this paper, we present the project of the heliogyro solar sail unit for deployment of CubeSat constellation and satellite deorbiting. The ballistic calculations show that constellation deployment period can vary from 0.18 years for 450km…
Cubesats and similarly scaled nano-satellites present significant opportunities for hosting both scientific and commercial payloads for Earth sensing and astronomical observations, in particular in the area of rapid-response observations to…
The wide availability of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) electronics that can withstand Low Earth Orbit conditions has opened avenue for wide deployment of CubeSats and small-satellites. CubeSats thanks to their low developmental and launch…
Space observatories for gravitational radiation such as LISA are equipped with dedicated on-board instrumentation capable of measuring magnetic fields with low-noise conditions at millihertz frequencies. The reason is that the core…
Small satellite systems enable whole new class of missions for navigation, communications, remote sensing and scientific research for both civilian and military purposes. As individual spacecraft are limited by the size, mass and power…
Modern and future high precision pointing space missions face increasingly high challenges related to the widespread use of large flexible structures. The development of new modeling tools which are able to account for the multidisciplinary…
Microgravity rendezvous and close proximity operations (RPO) is a growing area of interest for applications spanning in-space assembly and manufacturing (ISAM), orbital debris remediation, and small body exploration. Microgravity…
The Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal (SpIRIT) 6U CubeSat is a mission led by The University of Melbourne in cooperation with the Italian Space Agency. Launched in a 510 km Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit in December 2023, SpIRIT…
Agile software development methods have been suggested as useful in many situations and contexts. However, only few (if any) experiences are available regarding the use of agile methods in embedded domain where the hardware sets tight…