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CubeSats offer a low-cost platform for space research, particularly for Earth observation. However, their resource-constrained nature and being in space, challenge the flexibility and complexity of the deployed image processing pipelines…
Satellite nodes are an enabler of global quantum networks by overcoming the distance limitations of fiber and free-space links on ground. The design of quantum sources and receivers for satellites, however, is challenging in terms of size,…
When the first CubeSats were launched nearly two decades ago, few people believed that the miniature satellites would likely prove to be a useful scientific tool. Skeptics abounded. However, the last decade has seen the highly successful…
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 CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) project is a CubeSat mission orbiting the Earth aimed to measure the linear polarization of solar flares in the hard X-ray band by means of a Compton scattering polarimeter. CUSP will allow to study the…
High-altitude balloon experiments are becoming very popular among universities and research institutes as they can be used for testing instruments eventually intended for space, and for simple astronomical observations of Solar System…
The space-based 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 will allow to study the magnetic reconnection and…
The miniaturization of electronics, sensors and actuators has enabled the growing use of CubeSats and sub-20 kg spacecraft. Their reduced mass and volume has the potential to translate into significant reductions in required propellant and…
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…
This paper details our journey in designing and selecting a suitable application sandboxing mechanism for a satellite under development, with a focus on small satellites. Central to our study is the development of selection criteria for…
Recent advances in miniaturization and commercial availability of critical satellite subsystems and detector technology have made small satellites (SmallSats, including CubeSats) an attractive, low-cost potential solution for space weather…
Satellites and other complex systems now become more and more software dependent. Even nanosatellites have complexity that can be compared to scientific instruments launched to Mars. COTS components and subsystems may now be purchased to…
The design, integration, testing, and launch of the first Finnish satellite Aalto-1 is briefly presented in this paper. Aalto-1, a three-unit CubeSat, launched into Sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of approximately 500 km, is…
Space systems miniaturization has been increasingly popular for the past decades, with over 1600 CubeSats and 300 sub-CubeSat sized spacecraft estimated to have been launched since 1998. This trend towards decreasing size enables the…
Multi-sensory systems for embodied intelligence, from wearable body-sensor networks to instrumented robotic platforms, routinely face a sensor-asymmetry problem: the richest modality available during laboratory data collection is absent or…
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…
PolarLight is a compact soft X-ray polarimeter onboard a CubeSat, which was launched into a low-Earth orbit on October 29, 2018. In March 2019, PolarLight started full operation, and since then, regular observations with the Crab nebula,…
Optical navigation on a CubeSat must rely on the best extraction of the directions of some beacons from on-board images. We present an experiment on OPS-SAT, a CubeSat of the European Space Agency (ESA), that will characterize an onboard…
The POLAR-2 mission consists of 3 instruments designed with the combined aim of producing a deeper understanding of Gamma-Ray Bursts. To achieve this, POLAR-2 relies on polarisation measurements and, for the first time will provide these…
In this paper, we evaluate the viability of CubeSats as an attractive platform for lightweight instrumentation by describing a proof of concept CubeSat that houses an astrophotonic chip for transit spectroscopy-based exoplanet atmosphere…