Digital Commons Network^™

Operational Resilience In Cubesat Tracking Operations Through Complementary Architectures At Dss-17, Andrea Togni, Emily Walter, Chloe Hart, Ryan Collins, Noah Patrick, Christo Smith, Nathan Fite, Benjamin Malphrus, Marc Sanchez-Net

Small Satellite Conference

Loss of phase-locked loop (PLL) lock during CubeSat tracking can simultaneously eliminate both telemetry and Doppler observables, leaving operators blind during critical mission phases. While closed-loop receivers provide high-precision tracking under nominal conditions, they remain vulnerable to low signal-to-noise ratio, rapid Doppler dynamics, oscillator instability, and modeling errors. This single-point failure mode reduces operator situational awareness precisely when it is most needed. This work presents a dual-acquisition architecture that eliminates single point failure in CubeSat ground tracking. Implemented at DSS-17, Morehead State University's 21-meter deep-space antenna, the system pairs a conventional closed-loop modem with a parallel open-loop receiver implemented on …

Automatic Modulation Classification For Spectrum Sensing In Shared Satellite–Lte/5g Bands, Nahal Maleki, Todd Williams, Ulugbek Jainakov, Jason Jugar, Gilberth Caamano, Jeffrey Arnold

Small Satellite Conference

Automatic modulation classification (AMC) is a critical capability for spectrum monitoring, interference detection, and signal identification in increasingly congested satellite and terrestrial communication environments. This paper presents a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based AMC framework that classifies analog, digital, and multicarrier communication signals directly from raw in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) samples. The proposed framework supports twelve modulation classes, including binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature PSK (QPSK), 8PSK, 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM), 64QAM, pulse amplitude modulation (PAM)4, Gaussian frequency shift keying (GFSK), continuous phase FSK (CPFSK), broadcast FM (B-FM), single-sideband amplitude modulation (SSB-AM), double-sideband AM (DSB-AM), and orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing …

Scaling Orbital Dynamics To The Laboratory: An Industrial-Robot Hardware-In-The-Loop Testbed For Small Satellites, Kelsey Tresemer, Shawn Higbee, Eric Albin, Steven Magana-Zook, Monwen Shen, Aaron Peer, Eric Reichel, Miranda Stern, Steve Hunter, Zach Shields

Small Satellite Conference

This paper summarizes an emerging hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) capability that uses collaborative robots (cobots) to reproduce satellite relative motion in a laboratory environment. The system maps orbital dynamics into a room-scale workspace while preserving mission-relevant pose evolution for small satellite applications such as rendezvous and proximity operations, formation flying, inspection, and cislunar concepts. The platform treats robot selection as a multi-parameter trade among workspace, orientation coverage, payload capacity, stiffness, acceleration, and path-tracking performance. Representative motion profiles define the required operating envelope, and the facility supports modular payloads that can host optics, avionics, inertial units, and flight computers. An external metrology system …

The Billion Dollar Surprise: How Solar Cycle 25 Cut Satellite Lifetimes In Leo, Scott Shambaugh

Small Satellite Conference

Solar Cycle 25 has run far stronger than the 2019 consensus forecast issued by the NOAA/NASA/ISES prediction panel, with densities in low Earth orbit from 2022-2026 holding at 2-3x the predicted levels. The cumulative drag impulse experienced by LEO satellites, which is the driving metric for propellant budgets and mission lifetimes, reached 5-6 standard deviations beyond the forecast’s stated uncertainty. This means that even operators who designed conservatively against the two-sigma worst case fell short of their drag budgets. This paper quantifies a lower bound on the economic cost of that misprediction.

Starting from the 13,704 payloads on-orbit below 800 …

Catarina-A2: A Cubesat-Based Approach To Environmental Data Collection Using Sdr Technology In The Catarina Constellation, Gabriel Mariano Marcelino, Carlos Augusto Porto Freitas, Carlos Eduardo Possamai, Heitor Azuma Kagueiama, Elço João Dos Santos Junior, Flávio Gabriel Oliveira Barbosa, Paulo Alberto Macedo Vieira Violada

Small Satellite Conference

The Catarina Constellation is a Brazilian small-satellite initiative conceived to expand and modernize national space-based services through low-cost, scalable, and application-oriented CubeSat missions. Structured into mission-specific fleets, the constellation is designed to address strategic national needs while simultaneously fostering technological development and industrial capability within Brazil. Its first fleet is dedicated to environmental data collection, supporting governmental agencies and research institutions that rely on timely and reliable information for environmental monitoring, water resource management, and agricultural planning. Within this context, the Catarina-A2 mission represents a key step in the deployment of the constellation’s environmental data collection segment. Catarina-A2 is a …

Enabling Multi-Manifest Launch Agility For Responsive Space Access, Erik C. Mellquist, Akhil Gujral, Vinay Goyal, Jacob Rome, Randolph Kendall

Small Satellite Conference

The Aerospace Corporation in collaboration with the United States Space Force National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Program continues to make investments towards improving access to space by increasing launch responsiveness, resiliency, and agility. This includes a significant increase in the focus on launching multiple spacecraft on a single launch vehicle. These multi-manifest launches provide several benefits including cost efficiency, increased launch opportunities, diversification of risk, and improved access to space. Though there are many benefits associated with multi-manifest launches, the aggregation of multiple mission partners can increase complexity and schedule risk. One of the most significant complications with multi-manifest launches …

Access To Space For Nasa Small Sats: Current And Future Needs, Alicia Mendoza-Hill, Katherine Nelson

Small Satellite Conference

Small spacecraft technology advancements have fundamentally shifted how NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) executes science investigations. To support this approach, the SMD Rideshare Office (SRO) was established in 2020 to lead the definition and implementation of a directorate-wide rideshare strategy. Serving as the central point of contact for coordinating compatible NASA payloads with launch opportunities, the SRO maximizes science, exploration, and technology return on investment by enabling rideshare or other access to space opportunities for small spacecraft on SMD primary mission launches, Venture Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract commercial launch procurements, and other government agency launch opportunities. …

In-Orbit Demonstration Of Pbi Water Ion Thruster: Rapid Startup Capability For Small Satellite Missions, Yuichi Nakagawa, Kazuya Yaginuma

Small Satellite Conference

As small satellite constellations proliferate, the demand for safe, responsive propulsion systems has intensified to support agile orbital maneuvering. To address the lengthy startup downtimes of conventional systems, a 1U-class water-based ion thruster utilizing electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma generation was developed. This thruster is characterized by a drastically minimized Time-to-Thrust (TTT), which maximizes the operational window for primary payload activities. Extensive ground testing established a robust baseline, demonstrating a 99.9% ignition success rate across 2,476 automated firing cycles with a highly reproducible median TTT of 73 seconds. Ground validations also confirmed an operational lifespan supporting a total impulse exceeding …

Development And Qualification Of A Cubesat Scale Hybrid Thruster For In-Orbit Demonstration, Sho Suzuki, Jeje Kudakwashe, Izumi Chimoto, Sheila Langa, Yasuhiro Fukumoto, Yuki Nobuhara, Shota Hirai, Landon Kamps

Small Satellite Conference

The growing demand for agile orbital maneuvering in small satellites highlights the need for propulsion systems that provide both sufficient ΔV and meaningful thrust. Existing options remain polarized between low‑thrust electric propulsion and hazardous, difficult‑to‑miniaturize chemical systems. Hybrid chemical propulsion offers a promising middle ground; however, only one in‑orbit demonstration has ever been conducted, leaving the technology at a low level of maturity. Letara Ltd. has developed ICR‑X, a 2U CubeSat‑class hybrid chemical propulsion system using HDPE fuel and nitrous oxide. The system features an integrated oxidizer‑tank–combustion‑chamber structure, a low‑power multi‑restart ECP ignition system, and oxidizer‑temperature‑based thrust control, enabling 1–4 …

Scaling Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy Operations With Simple Temporal Networks: Introducing Splinter, Michael Iatauro, Caleb Adams, Caroline Lassiter

Small Satellite Conference

The Absolute Time Sequence (ATS) is a well-established mechanism for high-level spacecraft control, executing commands at specific times. One weakness of ATSs is that the cost of making a change to the command sequence grows with the length of the sequence, and the cost paid is many repetitive-but-detailed changes to the timing of commands, which is error-prone.

This weakness becomes a liability when scaling up to spacecraft swarms or long ATS durations because any perturbation to the command sequence or schedule incurs significant cost. Fitting that cost within a small team or short sequence development timeline becomes a central challenge …

Music Hall Thruster For The Space Trajectory Demonstrator 1.0 Mission, George-Cristian Potrivitu, Matteo Laterza, Suryono Gunawan Ali, Justin Ong, Jian Wei Mark Lim, Nikolay Vedenkin

Small Satellite Conference

The MUSIC Hall thruster has been selected as the propulsion system for the Space Trajectory Demonstrator 1.0 mission. The propulsion system is based on four baseline MUSIC 4U systems with two Xe tanks and a planned total impulse of at least 150 kNs. The four thruster units can provide up to 12 mN of combined thrust and the system will be used for orbit raising. The satellite platform is a 50 kg-class microsatellite scheduled to launch in Q3 2027 with a KSLV-II launcher from the Republic of Korea. MUSIC STD 1.0 propulsion system follows an 18-month long development timeline with …

In-Orbit Demonstration Of The Vyom-2u: A Green Monopropellant-Based Propulsion System Onboard Isro's Pslv C60 Poem-4, Ashtesh Kumar, Tushar Jadav, Prashant Singh, Rajat Kumar, Sajo George, Sivakami S., Rohit Shanbhag, Neel Gharat, Shubham Singh, Henry Sam, Suman Vadla

Small Satellite Conference

Vyom 2U is a compact 2U green monopropellant propulsion system designed to deliver a total impulse of 1700 Ns. At Beginning-of-Life (BOL) conditions, corresponding to a tank pressure of 24 bar, the thruster can deliver up to 1.1 N with a specific impulse of approximately 250 s, while requiring a peak electrical power of 15 W. At an operating pressure of 14 bar, the propulsion system delivers a thrust of approximately 0.67 N with a specific impulse of about 238 s. This operating point was deliberately selected for in-orbit operations to maintain sub-newton thrust levels compatible with the attitude control …

Initial Flight Test Data Of The Duplex 6u Satellite And The Fppt And Mvp Thrusters, Conor Blount, Magdalena Parta, Chris Young, Andrew Woodruff, Brendan Schulz, Darren King, Curtis Woodruff, Iain Murphy, David Carroll

Small Satellite Conference

NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) funded CU Aerospace (CUA) to develop and fabricate the Dual Propulsion Experiment (DUPLEX) 6U CubeSat to perform an on-orbit mission demonstration of two new polymer fiber electric propulsion technologies developed by CUA using NASA Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) funding. Both new propulsion technologies have multiple advantages: they utilize no fluid propellant, no pressure vessel, no valves to clog or leak, and no toxic materials. The 1.7U fiber-fed pulsed plasma thruster (FPPT) uses spooled Teflon filament as its propellant, has extremely high total impulse ( > 29,000 N-s) with high specific impulse ( > 3,500 s), …

High Data Rate Scalable N X 100g Transceiver For Cube/Small Sats For Cis-Lunar, Geo, And Data Center Applications, Christopher Krush, Alexandra Castle-Jones, Victoria Kennedy, Keith G. Petrillo, Mark Storm

Small Satellite Conference

Optical data transport in the cis-lunar regime is an enabling capability for sustained lunar exploration, space-based astronomy, and distributed sensing architectures. This paper presents the design, analysis, and experimental validation of a 100 Gb/s-class coherent optical communication transceiver that extends beyond LEO to GEO and cis-lunar applications. Target missions include lunar constellations, relays at Earth–Moon L1, and direct-to-Earth links, with relevance to NASA Artemis campaigns, enabling a future lunar infrastructure, and high-throughput science missions. This technology also supports future space data centers with the potential for Terabit optical links using WDM.

System-level performance requirements are derived from a parametric link …

Multi Network Optical And Rf Communications For The Esa Ops-Sat Oriole Mission: Design Challenges And Operational Readiness, Mari Allik, Silver Lodi, Lauri Kimmel

Small Satellite Conference

The increasing availability of Ground Station as a Service (GSaaS) networks and recent advances in optical communications are creating new opportunities for small satellite missions. While both technologies offer significant operational benefits, combining them within a single mission architecture introduces challenges that extend beyond the communication subsystem itself. Differences in provider interfaces, scheduling workflows, operational procedures, regulatory constraints, and communication availability must be addressed before such architectures can be used routinely.

The ESA OPS-SAT ORIOLE (Optical Relay and Infrared Optics for LEO Experiments) mission explores a communication architecture combining conventional RF communication systems with optical communication capabilities within a unified …

Energy-Aware Dynamic Tasking For Earth Observing Satellites With Deep Reinforcement Learning, Nicholas Nordlund, Tim Upthegrove, Leandros Tassiulas

Small Satellite Conference

Dynamic tasking for agile Earth-observing satellites (AEOS) adapts preplanned schedules using onboard lookahead sensors to detect cloud cover that obscures targets. Existing approaches decompose tasking into sequential lookahead, maneuver, and capture stages, limiting their ability to manage tradeoffs over long time horizons. Instead, we formulate dynamic tasking as a constrained partially observable Markov decision process (CPOMDP) and introduce Cloud-Aware Dynamic Earth-observation Tasking (CADET), a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) framework that jointly selects maneuvering and sensing actions under resource constraints. We derive a closed-form model for the probability that a target is visible given a spatially aggregated lookahead observation, …

Enabling Earth Independent Navigation, Guidance And Control With The Autongc Flight Software Framework, Michael Romeo, Sun Hur-Diaz, Behnam Azimi, Sean Semper, Robert Pritchett, James Marshall, Liam Greenlee, Joseph Patton, Steven Slegel, Carl De Vries, Benjamin Leser, Andrew Liounis

Small Satellite Conference

autoNGC is a framework for enabling onboard autonomous Navigation, Guidance and Control. Encompassing flight software, ground system software, reference hardware platforms, and simulation/analysis tools, autoNGC is designed to be an end-to-end solution to enabling onboard navigation, guidance and control with minimal ground operator supervision.

Implemented as a suite of apps for NASA’s core Flight System (cFS), autoNGC is designed with a modular architecture, allowing it to be customized to meet the needs of nearly any mission. This modular architecture enables a high-degree of reusability, allowing autoNGC to be rapidly implemented on new missions.

autoNGC is built on Goddard-developed software products, …

From Estimation To Certainty: Enhancing Smallsat Constellation Replenishment Planning With Physics-Based Solar Forecasting, Scott W. Mcintosh, Katherine Monson, Carolyn Belle, Chris Habib, Brianna Aubin

Small Satellite Conference

Poster Presented at the 2026 Small Satellite Conference

First Generation Of Project A.S.P.I.R.E. – A 1u Cubesat Mission For Technology Demonstration And Student Involvement In New Zealand, Shuanghui Zhao, Shunxing Shi, Kristen Lian, Rose Peens-Hough, Arami Peens-Hough, Changrui Wang, Joowon Hwang, Jerry Sun, Edward Sun

Small Satellite Conference

MOTIVATION

A feasibility study conducted at an Auckland secondary school in December 2024 found strong interest in satellite-related learning. Following an outreach presentation, 63 students (Majority aged 15 - 18) completed a questionnaire, with an average interest rating of 4.86/5. The most popular subjects were Orbital Physics, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering (fig. 1).

Hitechsat-1: A Rapidly Integrable 3u Platform For University Cubesat Missions, Seho Kim, Miguel Nunes, Mohammed Irfan Rashed, Lance Yoneshige, Gabriel Guerrero, Scott Ginoza, Piper Kline, Luke Flynn

Small Satellite Conference

HITechSat (HTS) is a student-led CubeSat program at the Hawaiʻi Space Flight Laboratory, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. HTS-1 is the first mission in the series: a 3U CubeSat deploying from the International Space Station (ISS) in mid 2027.

Investigation Of A Demonstration Mission For Three-Dimensional Remote Sensing Using “Structured Radio Waves” With Orbital Angular Momentum, Hisatoshi Kimura, Tsukasa Funane, Yosuke Tanabe, Miki Yonehara, Makoto Ito, Keigo Nakamura, Yasuyuki Miyazaki, Satoshi Ikari, Shinichi Nakasuka, Koichi Watanabe

Small Satellite Conference

Background

• As a new radar technology for remote sensing, three-dimensional observation methods using electromagnetic waves with spatial phase distributions are being studied to obtain azimuth-angle information in addition to conventional radar measurements^[1].
• We are considering the use of “structured radio waves”, which are formed by superposing two radio waves carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM), as radio waves with spatial phase distributions^[2,3].

Purpose

• Evaluate the effects of satellite position and attitude errors on azimuth-angle estimation and clarify the requirements for a demonstration mission. 
• Assess the feasibility and provide recommendations.

Layer 3 Switching, Todd R. Zatorski

Small Satellite Conference

Poster presented at the 2026 Small Satellite Conference

Comparison Between Low-Powered Gridded Ion Thruster And Hall Effect Thruster Operation For Small Satellite Applications, William Brabston, Kuei-Ru Chien, Michael Jaroonwit, Kevin Berg

Small Satellite Conference

In recent years, the small satellite space economy has experienced unprecedented growth with the emergence of low-cost dedicated and rideshare launch services. The resulting proliferation of small satellites creates a high demand for low cost, efficient electric propulsion systems to perform orbital maneuvers. Hall effect thrusters (HET) and gridded ion thrusters (GIT) are the two primary electric propulsion platforms for small sat applications, and they offer distinct advantages and disadvantages. Stellant, formerly Hughes, Boeing, and L3 Harris, is developing a lowpower GIT to meet these mission needs.

HETs produce thrust primarily through a highly coupled ionization and acceleration process, whereas …

Launch Vehicle And Ground Infrastructure Development For Zero Launch Systems, Masahiro Kinoshita

Small Satellite Conference

ZERO is a two-stage, orbital-class launch vehicle designed to provide flexible, affordable, and localized space access.

Microsat For Refueling Mission Demonstrator In Vleo, Gyusun Kim

Small Satellite Conference

Recently, active research and technological development have been conducted on various mission application in VLEO(Very Low Earth Orbit) using MicroSat. However, the limited payload accommodation capability of MicroSat poses significant challenges for high optical resolution commercial or national-level practical missions. In contrast, satellites of 2,000 kg in size have performed well in low-Earth orbit for the very high optical resolution missions required so far (e.g., 30 cm-level resolution optical satellites) in 450 km ~ 600 km orbit altitude, but in order to meet the continuously increasing resolution requirements in the future optical imagery market (e.g., 15 cm-level resolution), the optical …

Mission Orientated Flight Software Development: Cubestep, Tirth Thakkar, Howard Lee, Viren Kumar, Maranda Laws, Shridhi Seth, Marco Maggia, Navid Nakhjiri

Small Satellite Conference

Small satellite teams often develop flight software and mission operations separately, leading to software behaviors that drift out of sync with ground procedures. To fix this, we present a co-design approach that directly links mission goals and operational procedures to the onboard flight software architecture. Demonstrated on the CubeSTEP-Cerberus mission using NASA’s F′ framework and FreeRTOS, our system maps mission intent into five constrained software states (Initialization, Safe, Idle, Experiment, and Transmit) guarded by automated health checks. This co-design strategy ensures the spacecraft acts autonomously to preserve its goals while strictly maintaining operator control over critical decisions.

Multi-Paradigm Contact Scheduling — Combining Automation And Flexibility In Gsaas Operations, Jake Urbanek, Giovanni Zanotti, Stefan Vlad Tudor, Giovanni Pandolfi Bortoletto

Small Satellite Conference

BACKGROUND

Ground segment operations must keep pace with increasingly demanding mission concepts of operation. For a GroundSegment-as-a-Service (GSaaS) provider, this means scheduling ground contacts against a diverse, often conflicting set of customer requirements, historically requiring bespoke scheduling logic. Leaf Line's baseline addresses this with two mechanisms: an automated Scheduler that computes guaranteed network-wide allocations 4 days ahead, and on-demand booking of unallocated capacity, first-come-first-served.

PROBLEM

Together, the baseline delivers strong service levels and network utilization, but two gaps emerged. The 4-day rolling horizon limits visibility into exact pass allocation beyond that window. And users needing specific pass times may find …

Feasibility Study Of A 3d-Printed Thermally Insulated Battery Compartment For Cubesats, Michal Kolodynski, Konrad Kij, Michal Radawiec

Small Satellite Conference

Poster presented at the 2026 Small Satellite Conference

Oxford Space Systems Deployable Wrapped Rib Antenna (Wra): Initial On-Orbit Results, Peter Ashworth, Samuel Puche, Yuki Tsutsui, Duncan Shepherd, Amool Raina, Chris Bee, Vincent Fraux, Alex Da Silva Curiel, Danilo De Almedia, Liam North, Andrew Haslehurst, Darren Jones

Small Satellite Conference

Oxford Space Systems (OSS) has achieved significant advancements in space deployable antennas, enabling small-satellite constellations through their low mass, low launch volume and high RF performance. Launched in January 2026 on a Falcon 9 rocket, OSS have collaborated with SSTL on the CarbSAR mission in order to successfully demonstrate and validate the technology of the innovative deployable Wrapped Rib Antenna (WRA) in-orbit & its use in smallsat SAR.

The CarbSAR mission has been jointly funded by Oxford Space Systems, SSTL, Airbus Defence and Space, UKDI-DASA, DSTL and the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), within a long-term programme that also …

A Hybrid Architecture For Scalable High-Frequency Inflatable Reflectors For Small Satellites, Aman Chandra, Hina Suzuki, Shashank Verma, Zac Chen, Dustin Blanchard, Christopher Walker

Small Satellite Conference

Space-based telecommunications and remote sensing increasingly demand large-aperture antennas capable of operating at high frequencies, specifically Ka-band and above. While inflatable membrane structures offer the low mass and compact stowage necessary to deploy large reflectors in excess of two meters from small satellite platforms, their adoption has been hindered by the difficulty of maintaining precise surface geometry. To establish a viable pathway for these high-frequency applications, the University of Arizona and Freefall Aerospace have developed a hybrid tensioning and deployment mechanism, validated on a one-meter lenticular reflector. This system decouples boundary tension from internal pressure, using a novel adaptive pre-tensioning …