Over the past ten years, ESA has been putting more time and effort into its CubeSat activities. More Discovery & Preparation studies that have contributed to the future of CubeSats can be found here. This resulted in NAnosatellite Multiple channel Earth Observation (NAME-O) - a mission designed to carry out remote sensing using five cooperative nanosatellites.ĭiscovery & Preparation has supported many studies that have explored new CubeSat technologies, including investigating an anchoring device for CubeSat landers, looking into the feasibility of a multi-purpose satellite onboard the International Space Station, analysing the impact of spacecraft tracking on the operation and design of small satellites, and investigating how increasing number of nano- and micro-satellites will affect impact risk in Low Earth Orbit. NAME-O: In 2014, ESA welcomed teams of scientists to design a project that would use cooperative nanosatellites for Earth observation. Planned for launch in 2024/5, the mission will test the potential of using miniaturised technologies to lower the entry-level cost of space exploration. The concept of M-ARGO was first explored in ESA’s CDF via a Discovery & Preparation study. M-ARGO: Through the Fly element of the General Support Technology Programme, ESA is developing the Miniaturised Asteroid Remote Geophysical Observer ( M-ARGO), a stand-alone deep space CubeSat to meet and characterise a near-Earth object. The key science objectives of SpectroCube are to assess the impact of space on the biology and chemistry of the building blocks of life. SpectroCube: ESA plans to soon launch SpectroCube, a mission that will travel far from Earth to carry out astrobiology and astrochemistry experiments. The winners worked with specialists via ESA’s Concurrent Design Facility ( CDF) to develop their mission concepts further. The CubeSats would piggy-back on a lunar transfer vehicle before being released into orbit around the Moon. Two winners were selected – one to map meteoroid bombardments and the other to search for water ice and other volatiles at the lunar south pole. LUnar CubeSats for Exploration (LUCE): To support ESA’s lunar exploration objectives, in 2017, ESA challenged European teams to design a CubeSat mission to the Moon. Whether it’s to the Moon, Mars, or even further, these tiny spacecraft are certainly changing the game when it comes to space exploration. But as engineers become more familiar with the technology, CubeSats are beginning to venture farther afield. This allows CubeSat projects to be readied for flight extremely quickly – typically within one or two years.ĬubeSats are now commonly used in low Earth orbit for applications such as remote sensing and communications. Their modular design means that subsystems are available off-the-shelf from different suppliers and can be stacked together according to the needs of the mission. These small satellites provide affordable access to space for small companies, research institutes and universities. A similar technique is used to deploy CubeSats from the International Space Station (ISS), where they are launched out of the Japanese module, Kibo. They are packed in a container which, at the push of a button, ejects them into space via a spring system. CubeSats tend to hitch a ride into space using extra space available on rockets, meaning lots of launch opportunities and low launch costs.
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