Digital Commons Network^™

See And Minicor: Transforming Solar Science Through Modular Small Satellite Technology, Gabriel Gutierrez, Lorenzo Pattanaro, Giorgia Casadei, Antonio Turi, Ludovica Bozzoli, Alessandro Balossino, Angelos Vourlidas, Aaron Magner, Luca Giovanelli, Francesco Berrilli, Daniele Urban, Silvia Natalucci

Small Satellite Conference

In recent years, the field of space exploration has witnessed a paradigm shift with the emergence of small satellites, particularly CubeSats, as cost-effective, time-efficient and versatile platforms for scientific missions. At the same time, heliophysical studies are becoming increasingly important for space weather purposes, as they shed light on the Sun's interaction with the Earth, the solar system and the interstellar medium. This work delves into the study of the Sun activities through two complementary CubeSat missions, focusing on how these similar and modular platforms will face the mission's technical challenges while enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of key solar …

A Compact High-Resolution Ion & Neutral Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer For Advanced Space Applications, Lucas Anderson, Chad Fish, Gregory Miller, Ryan Blase

Small Satellite Conference

We present the design, development, and testing of four novel, compact, high-precision Time-Of-Flight (TOF) Mass Spectrometers (MS) for integration with the next generation of space flight platforms. These MS instruments are capable of sampling both ions and neutral elements and are designed to integrate with a variety of space flight vehicles, including sounding rockets and small satellites (ESPA & 12U CubeSats or larger). One of the four flight instruments has been prototyped as a sounding rocket payload with a SWAP of approximately ~8 kg, and ~15 W using a 12-bit 3.2Gs/s analog-to-digital converter data acquisition system (With a Time to …

Leveraging Cross-Industry Knowledge To Improve The Design Of Space Systems, Jay Lewis, Christian M. Fuchs

Small Satellite Conference

There are valuable satellites that fail early and almost none have been repaired or investigated. Other industries benefit from feedback loops that use failure analysis to accelerate design and manufacturing improvements.¹⁷ Historically the cost of a repair mission would be so high it wouldn't be considered. The cost of space debris mitigation missions can be reduced by leveraging the learning other industries have experienced. Lowering the cost of repair missions will enable more debris mitigation, learn more about why missions failed, and lead to fewer failures and lower costs.

Many space programs rely on outdated processes that increase costs, …

Development Of A Methodology For Optimizing Satellite Durability By Coupling Advanced Orbit Propagation With High Fidelity 3d Thermal-Electrical Simulation, Corey D. Packard, Logan R. Canull, Zachary J. Edel, Timofey Golubev, Michael L. Larsen, Nate Mccoun

Small Satellite Conference

In the rapidly evolving landscape of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology, this study presents a pioneering approach for analyzing satellite durability through advanced orbit propagation and high fidelity 3D thermal-electric simulation. Small satellites, packed with high power components and rapidly transitioning between sunlit and eclipsed orbit segments, often feature limited thermal control systems that make thermal management a challenging (but critical) task. Additionally, the durability of battery cells and photovoltaic (PV) panels over the mission lifetime of small satellites is an important concern. Cycling and calendar fade take their toll on battery lifetime, and PV degradation reduces operational efficiency …

A Shallow Convolutional Neural Network For Onboard Cubesat Image Classification, Sadikul Alim Toki, Abdulla Hil Kafi, Raihana Shams Islam Antara, Calvin Coopmans

Small Satellite Conference

The development of CubeSats dates back many years, and there has been much research on the payload's ability to analyze satellite images. Due to the difficulty in downlinking photographs owing to their size and communication limitations, the majority of CubeSats are currently constructed with image processing capabilities. The majority of CubeSat payloads are created using embedded technology, which fits CubeSats's size, weight, and power. However, the processing power of embedded devices is constrained. Different kinds of image classification models have been built based on fine-tuning previously trained models, which contain many parameters in this domain. While there has been some …

Design And Development Of A Neural Surface Rendering Model For Lunar Satellite Photogrammetry, Caleb Adams, Ignacio Lopez-Francos, Ariel Deutsch, Ellemieke Van Kints, Aiden Hammond

Small Satellite Conference

Neural volumetric scene representations encode the color and density of points in 3D space by optimizing an underlying continuous volumetric scene function. These methods are focused on synthesizing novel views of objects and on-ground scenes from a set of sparse input views. However, they under-perform at photogrammetric tasks of geometric reconstruction from multi-view satellite imagery in environments with diffuse reflection and harsh shading. This limits the ability of these methods to accurately generate Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) using multi-view satellite imagery. By incorporating techniques such as a learned distance function of the surface geometry …

Burstcube: Behind The Scenes Of A Do-No-Harm I&T Production, Katherine Fowee Gasaway, Lucia Tian, Julie Cox, Nickalas Cason, Benjamin Nold, Dakotah Rusley, Behnam Azimi, Judith Racusin, Jeremy Perkins, Robert Moss, Sean Semper, John Lucas, Pavel Galchenko, Israel Martinez Castellanos, Ava Myers, Daniel Violette

Small Satellite Conference

BurstCube is one of the most recent 6-U CubeSats built and developed by NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center (GSFC). As an astrophysics mission, BurstCube will be a rapid detection alert end-to-end mission system for short astrophysical gamma-ray bursts with the aim of increasing the chance of coincident detection of gamma-ray bursts. In addition, the mission is intended to augment the current fleet of gamma-ray astronomy satellites. The payload instrument includes 4 scintillator heads read out by arrays of silicon photomultipliers which will detect short astrophysical gamma-ray bursts. BurstCube provides a high field of view previously unavailable to larger missions and is …

Niord: A Compact High-Resolution Low-Light Imager For Marine Traffic Surveillance, A. Bouée, X. Bozec, J. L. Carel, J. Coupard, V. Vieillot, K. Svenes, T. Skauli, B. Cotton, H. Chen, G. Jovanovic

Small Satellite Conference

NIORD is a compact high-resolution low-light imager for marine traffic surveillance. It will be used by the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI) on the NorSat-4 satellite, which is owned by the Norwegian Space Agency. This imager is based on a catadioptric optical design fully integrated at SAFRAN Reosc. Its integration on the spacecraft was performed in May 2023 at UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory. This paper develops the project life cycle, from the opto-mechanical design to the integration process and tests performed on the instrument.

Nasa Prism's Lunar Vertex Mission – Lessons Learned In Establishing A New Low-Cost Science Mission Paradigm, Ann L. Cox, William F. Ames

Small Satellite Conference

Lunar Vertex (LVx), a lander-rover science investigation of Reiner Gamma, was selected as NASA's first PRISM (Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon) mission in June 2021. The PRISM program is under NASA's Planetary Missions Program Office (PMPO). To facilitate a quick delivery at low cost, NASA is managing PRISM missions to the requirements for research and technology projects as documented in NASA Procedural Requirements document NPR 7120.8. It is JHU/APL's first science mission developed under the NPR 7120.8 requirements. NASA and JHU/APL worked together to accept a higher risk posture, to allow for less stringent requirements, …

The Stellar Occultation Hypertemporal Imaging Payload: A Year Aboard The International Space Station, Lance Simms, Dana Mcguffin, Cesar Laguna, Minh Pham, David Patrick, Brian Baumann, Jordan Karburn, Collin Averill, Steve Hunter, Princess Corral, Jeff Klingman, Darrell Carter, Jon Gordon, Ik Jang, George Dankiewicz, Pete Supsinskas, Ron Kane, Matt Horsley, Philip Cameron-Smith, John Ganino, Wim De Vries, Ryan Fellini, Frank Ravizza, Ben Bahney

Small Satellite Conference

From its vantage point on the aft side of the International Space Station (ISS), for just over a year the Stellar Occultation Hypertemporal Imaging Payload (SOHIP) monitored the light from bright stars traveling through Earth's atmosphere. Using two optical telescopes, SOHIP's mission was to measure the scintillation and refractive bending of this starlight to detect and characterize upper atmospheric perturbations down to length scales of 10 meters. SOHIP measurements of atmospheric properties such as temperature, pressure, air-density, and refractivity profiles at altitudes up to 50 kilometers can provide estimates of atmospheric gravity waves and turbulence in the stratosphere. Designed and …

A ‘Nuclear Bomb’ Or Just ‘A Joke’? Groundwater Models May Help Communicate Nuanced Risks To The Great Salt Lake, Matthew D. Laplante, Piyush Dahal, Shih-Yu Simon Wang, Kirsti Hakala, Avik Mukherjee

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

The Great Salt Lake entered the zeitgeist of environmental concern in 2022 when a coalition of scientists and activists warned in a highly publicized report that the lake might be just five years away from complete desiccation, a possibility one state official warned was tantamount to an “environmental nuclear bomb”. Shortly thereafter, an unpredicted and unprecedented pluvial winter resulted in an increase in inflow, temporarily halting the lake’s decline and prompting Utah’s governor to mock the dire prediction as “a joke”, an outcome that speaks to the tension between agenda-setting and trust-building that researchers face when sharing worst-case warnings, particularly …

Garai Mission: Two Microsatellites Embarking Four Imagers For Multispectral Submetric Earth Observation Serving Critical Applications, Jon Paul Babio, Bastiaan Lagaune, Staffan Persson, Enne Hekma, Xavier Lopez

Small Satellite Conference

SATLANTIS MICROSATS SA and OHB Sweden are finalizing 2 micro satellites together under the project name GARAI, first launch scheduled in October 2024. This paper will present the current status of the High-Resolution Multispectral satellite and the services it will enable.

Each satellite will embark two binocular imagers from the iSIM family, iSIM-90 and iSIM-170, combining high resolution images and videos with swath values up to 13 km and multispectrality, with a total of 14 different filters split between the four optical channels covering SWIR spectra, VIS Polarimetry, and PAN + VNIR spectra.

The GARAI mission incorporates OHB Sweden's flight …

Tracers Mission And Gnc Architecture, Sanny Omar, Reid Reynolds

Small Satellite Conference

The Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) NASA mission consists of two identical spinner spacecraft built by Millennium Space Systems to investigate the effects of solar wind on the Earth's magnetosphere, particularly in the Northern "magnetic cusp" region near the magnetic North pole. The TRACERS satellites will measure AC/DC magnetic fields, electric fields, and electron/ion distributions to better characterize Earth-sun interactions and determine whether magnetic reconnection phenomena are primarily spatially or temporarily driven. This will improve our ability to understand and forecast space weather and "solar storms" which have the potential to disrupt or damage power grids and …

Lessons Learnt From N3ss Gnc Operations, Jonathan Serrand, Frederick Viaud

Small Satellite Conference

N3SS is a triple Cubesat launched the 9th of October 2023. This in-orbit demonstrator embeds a miniaturized Software Developed Radio-Frequency payload that measures signals received in L and S bands. CNES, the French space agency, has been developing this satellite with the support of U-Space, a French company provider of next-generation nanosatellites. After about two weeks of commissioning, the spacecraft started its mission, which has been ongoing for six months now.

This article is focusing on the lessons learnt from the design, validation and commissioning of N3SS Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) system.

The GNC of N3SS includes attitude and …

Starling Cubesat Swarm Technology Demonstration Flight Results, Scott Miller, Caleb Adams, Nahum Alem, Howard Cannon, Randy Grashuis, Ted Hendriks, Soon Hwang, Michael Iatauro, Craig Pires, Justin Kruger, Simone D'Amico

Small Satellite Conference

The Starling swarm of four 6U CubeSats launched in July 2023 to test four key technologies to enable future swarm missions:

1) Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking (MANET) over a crosslink radio network

2) Autonomous onboard decision-making for operations

3) Optical-based absolute and relative navigation

4) Autonomous maneuver planning and execution

The Starling team implemented the Better Approach to Mobile Ad-hoc Networking (B.A.T.M.A.N.) protocol to automatically manage the crosslink network of four satellites. The B.A.T.M.A.N. protocol uses a decentralized approach to managing a molti-hop mesh network of devices, in this case, a satellite swarm. The four satellites were able to successfully establish …

Operating In A Unique Three Body Orbit With A Stuck Thruster, Hannah Umansky, Jack Kelly, Rebecca Rogers, Ethan Kayser, Alec Forsman, Connor Ott, Anthony Zara, Michael Caudill

Small Satellite Conference

The CAPSTONE mission, currently operating in an Earth-Moon L2 Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO), encountered a thruster anomaly in transit to NRHO that resulted in thruster valve remaining permanently open. After resolving the initial anomaly recovering the spacecraft from body rates greater than 120 deg/s, the CAPSTONE team redesigned the thruster controller as well as the spacecraft state machine to enable continued propulsive operations including successful insertion into and sustained operations in NRHO. While the redesign enabled continued utilization of the propulsion system with a stuck thruster, the resulting system presents continued operational challenges within the NRHO environment.

The CAPSTONE …

Results From On-Orbit Operation Of Cubesat-Scale Robotic Arms On The International Space Station, Khush Thakor, Taiwo Wusu, Christine Maceo, Jin S. Kang

Small Satellite Conference

Technological advancements in robotics and additive manufacturing have accelerated the on-orbit capabilities of space vehicles. These advancements, combined with the surge in satellite constellations and the harsh space environment, motivated innovative approaches for sustaining space assets using other space vehicles, including on-orbit servicing, removal, and manufacturing. On-orbit servicing enables maintenance, repairs, and upgrades to existing satellites, decelerating the accumulation of space debris and offering a cost-effective alternative to traditional satellite replacement. On-orbit removal (relocation or collection) of defunct spacecraft from orbital graveyards declutters space real estate for future space infrastructure and human spaceflight. On-orbit manufacturing reduces launch costs and facilitates …

Amsat-Oscar-7, A Still Operational, Small-Satellite History Lesson, Jan A. King, Frank Wiesenmeyer, Scott Wiesenmeyer

Small Satellite Conference

It has often been reported that the oldest satellites still working in space are, collectively, the JPL Space Probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The Voyagers were both launched in 1977 to take advantage of the planetary alignment called, back then, the "Grand Tour". This was the alignment of the outer planets, which allowed, using gravitational assist, both Voyagers to visit multiple planets each. Both missions were nothing short of spectacular and they still expand our imaginations. Their images changed the human vision of our solar system. But, are they really the oldest, still functional spacecraft in outer space? What …

Design And Development Of An Active Magnetic Docking System For Small Satellites, Atheel Redah, Saurav Paudel, Milan Pathak, Chaitanya Athawle, Om Sai Swaroop Mopidevi, Felix Sittner, Sergio Montenegro

Small Satellite Conference

Applications such as self-assembly and reconfiguration in space, on-orbit servicing and refueling, debris and retired elements removal are examples of future space missions that will require space objects that can perform autonomous rendezvous and docking maneuvers with other orbiting elements.

To demonstrate such capability for small satellites, the TAMARIW project is intended to develop two identical 3U CubeSats with autonomous docking systems. These satellites are scheduled to be launched by the end of the first quarter of 2026 to perform several undocking/docking maneuvers in space at predefined relative distances. In addition, the standardization and partial autonomy of the satellite modules …

Optomechanical Inertial Sensors, Andrea Nelson, José Sanjuan, Felipe Guzmán

Small Satellite Conference

We present novel optomechanical inertial sensing technologies of exquisite sensitivity for precision science-grade observations and engineering applications that can be used in space, air, underground, deep water, and planetary environments, as well as for inertial navigation. These technologies are based on compact low-noise optomechanical accelerometers which are comprised of monolithically fabricated mechanical resonators that incorporate compact and highly sensitive laser interferometric displacement sensors. Current laboratory prototypes have demonstrated very low mechanical losses consistent with quality factors Q of 4.77x10⁵, and mQ-products above 1200 kg, having a fundamental mechanical resonance of 4.7 Hz. These characteristics highlight their high …

Unlocking The Potential Of Small Satellites: Themis's Active Cooling Technology On The Spirit Mission, Miguel Ortiz Del Castillo, Clint Therakam, Jack Mcrobbie, Andrew Woods, Robert Mearns, Simon Barraclough, Stephen Catsamas, Mika Ohkawa, Jonathan Morgan, Airlie Chapman, Michele Trenti

Small Satellite Conference

The Thermal Management Integrated System (TheMIS) is a key element of the Australia-Italy Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal (SpIRIT) mission, launched in a 510km Polar Sun-Synchronous orbit in December 2023. SpIRIT is a 6U CubeSat led by The University of Melbourne in cooperation with the Italian Space Agency, with support from the Australian Space Agency and with contributions from Australian space industry and international research organizations. The TheMIS subsystem actively cools and controls the temperature of sensitive instruments, increasing the potential range of payloads supported on small spacecraft systems. TheMIS core functionality is based on a commercial Stirling Cycle Cryocooler …

One Year Satellite Operations Of The E-Band Technology Demonstration Cubesat Eive, Markus Kranz, Marius Eggert, Markus Koller, Michael Lengowski, Jakob Meier, Robin Müller, Robin Schweigert, Sabine Klinkner, Simon Haußmann, Laura Manoliu, Benjamin Schoch, Ingmar Kallfass, Axel Tessmann, Ralf Henneberger, Jens Freese

Small Satellite Conference

The Exploratory In-Orbit Verification of an E-band Link (EIVE) CubeSat is the latest satellite of the University of Stuttgart launched in June 2023. The CubeSat EIVE was developed and built together with partners in industry and research since 2019 and is operated by PhD, graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Stuttgart’s Institute of Space Systems (IRS). The main mission objective is the technology demonstration of a high-speed space-to-ground communication link in the E-band. EIVE may later be repurposed as an educational satellite for students.

The satellite is operated from the Mission Control Center (MCC) at the University of …

Ninjasat: Initial Operation Results Of The First Japanese 6u Cubesat For Bright X-Ray Sources, Tomoshi Takeda, Naoyuki Ota, Sota Watanabe, Amira Aoyama, Satoko Iwata, Takuya Takahashi, Kaede Yamasaki, Yuanhui Zhou, Keisuke Uchiyama, Yuto Yoshida, Syoki Hayashi, Arata Jujo, Toru Tamagawa, Takao Kitaguchi, Yo Kato, Tatehiro Mihara, Kentaro Taniguchi, Teruaki Enoto, Wataru Iwakiri, Masaki Numazawa, Hiroki Sato, Chin-Ping Hu, Hiromitsu Takahashi, Hirokazu Odaka, Tsubasa Tamba

Small Satellite Conference

We report the initial operation results of the first Japanese 6U CubeSat X-ray observatory NinjaSat, which was launched into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 530 km on November 11, 2023, by the SpaceX Transporter-9 mission. NinjaSat is designed to observe bright X-ray sources in the sky, such as black holes and neutron stars, which are often difficult to observe with modern large X-ray satellites due to instrument limitations. After the payload verification, NinjaSat observed the Crab Nebula on February 9 and correctly detected the 33.8 ms pulsation from the neutron star. With this observation, NinjaSat met the minimum …

Lessons Learned In The Operation Of The Hibari: Variable Shape Satellite, Daiki Kobayashi, Kei Watanabe, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Yuki Amaki, Kenichiro Takahashi, Yusaku Ozeki, Katsuki Tashiro, Riku Nishio, Ryo Saito, Yusei Kawaguchi, Kiyona Miyamoto, Toshihiro Chujo, Hiroki Nakanishi, Yoichi Yatsu, Saburo Matunaga

Small Satellite Conference

We have developed the 50 kg microsatellite “HIBARI”. The satellite demonstrated a novel attitude control method called “Variable Shape Attitude Control (VSAC)”. VSAC is a method that can quickly control attitude and has low energy consumption using reaction torque by driving variable shape structures. HIBARI was launched in 2021 under the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program led by JAXA. We have been operating the satellite for two years and have demonstrated the VSAC mission. We achieved all minimum and full success criteria, including 30 deg/10sec agile attitude change.

On the other hand, we experienced problems like the degradation of satellite …

From Development Through Re-Entry: Ctim Operational Lessons Learned And Successes, Sierra Flynn, Gabe Bershenyi, Brian Boyle, Dave Harber, Beth Cervelli, Scott Gennari, Adalyn Fyhrie, Adrienne Pickerill, Jacob Sprunk, Karen Bryant, Cody Folgmann

Small Satellite Conference

The University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics’ (CU-LASP) Compact Total Irradiance Monitor (CTIM) SmallSat mission was a 6U CubeSat designed full-cycle and in-house between 2018-2022 and flew for 1.5 years after launch until re-entry, overshooting the 1-year mission lifetime goal. CTIM's primary mission was to measure the total irradiance of the Sun, with ancillary measurements of the night-side Earth IR radiance, while demonstrating new technological capabilities of silicon-substrate room temperature vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) bolometers. The instrument was based on the Total Irradiance Monitor design that flew on SORCE (2003), TCTE (2013), and TSIS (2017). CTIM …

Satnogs-Comms: Turnkey Nanosatellite Communications, Manolis Surligas, Agis Zisimatos, Ilias Daradimos, Aris Nikas, Dimitris Moustroufis Pierros Papadeas, Manthos Papamathaiou, Alfredos-Panagiotis Damkalis, Vasillis Tsiligiannis, Victoria Malyshkina

Small Satellite Conference

The SatNOGS-COMMS is a dual-band software configurable radio transceiver specifically designed for Telemetry and Telecommand (TMTC) in the UHF and S-band. It is designed to match best with nanosatellites and CubeSats missions operating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) up to 800 km. The radio module supports full in-flight reconfiguration of the carrier and intermediate frequencies, bitrate, modulation options, and channel-filter bandwidth. SatNOGS-COMMS is fully compatible with SatNOGS Network for all TMTC functionality. The software and hardware are released as open source projects, which can be tailored to user needs.

Horizontal Link Demonstration Over 143 Km With Cubeisl: The World's Smallest Commercial Optical Communication Payload For Inter-Satellite Links, Jorge Rosano Nonay, René Rüddenklau, Benjamin Rödiger, Christopher Schmidt, Andreas Sinn, Georg Schitter

Small Satellite Conference

New developments in the field of free-space optical (FSO) communications are enabling a breakthrough in satellite miniaturization and data rates. The CubeISL laser communication terminal (LCT), developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), shall demonstrate in-orbit inter-satellite links (ISLs) at 100 Mbps and downlinks at 1 Gbps. When it launches in 2025, it aims to become the state-of-the-art technology for efficient CubeSat communications at high data rates and the world's smallest optical inter-satellite link terminal.

The performance of the CubeISL terminal was tested in a 143 km horizontal link between the islands of La Palma and Tenerife. In this setup, …

Development And Results Of A Lasercom Testbed For The Click B/C Cubesats And Future Missions, Thomas S. Schwarze, Danielle E. Coogan, Joseph Conroy, Pablo Santiago, John W. Conklin, Myles Clark, Paul Serra, Hannah Tomio, Nicholas Belsten, William Kammerer, Celvi Lisy, Paige Forester, Mohamed Mohamed, Leonardo Gallo, Ajay Gill, Kerri Cahoy, Jan Stupl, David Mayer, John Hanson

Small Satellite Conference

The expansion of interest in small satellite constellation networks underscores the need for precise timing synchronization and reliable high-bandwidth communication between spacecraft. The CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK (CLICK) mission is being developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Florida, and NASA Ames Research Center. The first phase of the mission, CLICK A, was launched on July 14, 2022, aboard SpaceX’s CRS-25 and put into orbit from the International Space Station, where it successfully demonstrated the downlink to Earth. The second phase of the mission (CLICK B/C) will additionally demonstrate a crosslink between two 3U CubeSats (B and …

A Data-Efficient Model-Based Task Decomposition Approach For Massive Satellite Constellations, Benjamin Cooper, John Grimes, Michael Planer, Letitia Li, Daniel Wallach, Hooman Sherkat-Massoom, Alex Fox, Alessandro Monteros, Ryan Mohr, Maria Fonoberova, Lael Rudd

Small Satellite Conference

The rapid development and launch of low-cost satellites have led to constellations of hundreds of satellites, the proliferated Low Earth Orbit (p-LEO) constellation, and has changed the dynamic of space-based earth observation. The availability of massive numbers of satellites creates the opportunity to tackle larger scale problems, such as larger scale monitoring of wildlife, illegal fishing, and climate events. These opportunities must be met with increasing automation, preferably using an approach that executes and adapts on-orbit.

Optimizing distributed resources remains an astronomically challenging problem, even more so when computations are performed on the comparatively compute restricted hardware of satellites. We …

An Investigation Of Automation Strategies To Optimize Itasat2 Mission Operations, Renan Guilherme Soares Menezes, Lidia Hissae Shibuya Sato, Edson Wander Do Rego Pereira, Victoria De Souza Rodrigues, Luis Felipe Camponogara, Victor Oliveira Costa, Ana Carolina Di Iorio Jeronymo, Luís Eduardo Vergueiro Loures Da Costa

Small Satellite Conference

The ITA Space Center (CEI) is dedicated to advancing space systems and cultivating expertise in the sector. In pursuit of these objectives, CEI has initiated CubeSat development projects, commencing with the ITASAT mission launched in December 2018 and followed by the successful deployment of the SPORT satellite project in 2022. ITASAT's primary purpose was to be a hands-on project, from design to operation. SPORT is designed to study space weather, specifically focusing on the dynamics of plasma bubble formation in the ionosphere near-equatorial regions. Acknowledging the inherent challenges posed by power budget limitations, it became apparent that continuous scientific data …