Improving Attitude Determination Control System In Small Satellites For Enhancing Data Observation And Enabling Quantum Communication, Marco Ruano

Small Satellite Conference

The growing market for small satellites requires agile, efficient and compact attitude and determination control systems (ADCS) to improve mission performance, enable optical satellite communication (quantum) and improve data observation, increasing precision and agility in control. Reaction wheels are the most widely used active attitude control systems; they offer the advantages of high angular momentum and reduced space, despite problems such as saturation and maximum torque limitations that seriously limit the operability of their satellites, including long pointing wait times and the recovery of momentum-generating capacity (desaturation).

Night Sky Brightness Caused By Orbital Reflectors, Erkin Sidick, Ben Nowack, Tristan Semmelhack

Small Satellite Conference

We are in the process of developing a system which redirects the incoming sunlight to a stationary ground target after sunset and before sunrise. One of the purposes is to extend operating hours of solar-farms to after sunset and before sunrise. Our system contributes to light pollution as a by-product. We have developed an optical model to predict the night sky glow caused by the light coming from an orbital reflector. In this paper we will review some work done by others on the night sky brightness caused by artificial city lights first, then present our results of model predictions …

Pioneering Multi-Band Communication For Smallsats: Overcoming Technical Barriers With Innovative Solutions, Lucas Felderhoff, Mathias Reibe

Small Satellite Conference

Communication links are required to be more flexible and more efficient. A multi-band, multi-protocol, and multi-way communication architecture for telemetry/telecommand (TM/TC) functionalities as well as high-speed-data-rate broadband payload transmission is shown. The focus is set on hybrid configurations such as S-Band transceivers paired with X-Band transmitters and combinations of S- and Ka-Band systems, which offer enhanced operational flexibility. Such solutions will be provided in a compact single unit for efficient communication.

A Dynamic Wireless Channel Emulator For Realistic Cubesat Testing, David Michelson, Eisha Khan, Max Xiang, Yun Xing, Ada Li, Ryan Manak

Small Satellite Conference

Failure of the communication subsystem has been responsible for approximately 20% of small satellite mission failures over the period between 2000 and 2019. Insufficient system-level integration and testing has been cited as one reason why corrective actions weren’t taken before launch to prevent such failures. Here, we introduce a relatively inexpensive GTEM-cell-based dynamic channel emulator that will permit designers of CubeSats operating at frequencies up to 20 GHz to evaluate their spacecraft’s communications over multiple simulated passes with the spacecraft in as close to over-the-air flight condition as possible, including fully deployed antennas. Using this over-the-air channel emulator allows the …

An Updated Architecture For A Modular And Scalable Edge Computing System For Small Spacecraft, Kelly Williams, Michael Pham, Zachary Gaines, Alex Mariano, Janelle Tran, John Pollak, Luca Lanzillotta, Phylis Nelson

Small Satellite Conference

SCALES (Spacecraft Compartmentalized Autonomous Learning and Edge-computing System) is a novel hardware/software system for the enhancement of machine learning onboard small spacecraft. Through the first year of development under the NASA University SmallSat Technology Partnerships (USTP) program the team has been able to design and develop the first prototype of the system.

SCALES combines the use of commercial off-the-shelf hardware and the open-source F’ software framework developed by JPL. The system is aimed at coupling radiation tolerant flight computer with the capability of high-performance edge computers. The radiation tolerant flight computer is responsible for the operation of the spacecraft and …

Attitude Determination And Control System Development Of Arica-2, Shuntaro Morikawa, Takanori Sakamoto, Motoko Serino, Keiju Asano, Yoshihiro Takagi, Kazumasa Hiroshi, Chisaki Iwanaga, Shion Nojima

Small Satellite Conference

ARICA-2 (AGU Remote Innovative CubeSat Alert System - 2) is a 2U CubeSat designed to demonstrate a real-time alert system for transient astronomical events using commercial satellite networks. Astronomical transient events are difficult to predict when and where they happen and typically have short durations. Therefore, it is important to alert other observational equipments in real time about the occurrence of such events so that observers can perform follow-up observations.ARICA-2 satellite surveys the feasibility of commercial satellite communications, such as Iridium and Globalstar, at various locations in orbit to demonstrate the real-time alert system. We investigated the relationship between the …

Breaking The Boundaries Of Aerospace Simulations, Hil And Digital Twins, Asaf Lewin

Small Satellite Conference

Poster presented during the 2025 SmallSat Conference.

Building Oklahoma’S First Cubesat Program: A Student’S Perspective, John O'Hara, Imraan Faruque, Peter Lopresti, Cannon Kilcrease

Small Satellite Conference

OKSat is a student-led, multi-university effort to launch Oklahoma’s first CubeSat. Built from the ground up, the program has provided students with hands-on experience in space systems engineering, leadership, and cross-institutional collaboration. This poster shares lessons learned from establishing and growing the program, highlighting strategies that support sustainable, student-driven satellite development—especially in regions without established aerospace programs.

Closed-Loop Satellite Planning And Scheduling For Low-Latency Data Collection And Analysis With A Conversational Agent Interface, Neil Dhingra, Sean Kearns, Nathan Evans, Ella Herz, Armin Rezaiyan-Nojani

Small Satellite Conference

We demonstrate a closed-loop geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) Tasking, Collection, Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (TCPED) pipeline that provides data and data analyses using commercial satellite imagery. The Cloudbased Automated Satellite Tactical TCPED (CASTT) software platform obtains data through automated interfaces with satellite operators, performs analyses of that data which drive automated re-tasking by Auria’s optimized collection planning software, and then issues those new follow-up tasks to the satellite operators. Automation shortens the timeline from the receipt of data that warrants follow-up data to its actual collection and delivery. CASTT leverages progress across the space industry to providing an integrated solution drawing …

Development Of A Novel Thermal Management System For Smallsats, Andrew E. Kalman, Steven Castrillon, Boris Yendler, Adam W. Reif

Small Satellite Conference

Introduction

- High-power space missions demand advanced thermal management

- Traditional rigid radiators limit scalability due to mass and volume.

- This work demonstrates a Thermal Management System (TMS) prototype integrating:

• Rollout Deployable Radiator (RDR)
• Phase Change Material Thermal Accumulator (PCM-TA)
• Integrated Heat Pipes (IHP)

- Components can be used individually or jointly.

Lessons Learned From Operating In The Radiation Environment Of A Highly Elliptical Orbit, Hezekiah Austin, Chris Major, Jake Davis, Tyler Holliday, Rubin Meuchel, Conner Parrott, Zach Hull, David Klumpar, Larry Springer, John Sample, Brock Lameres, Farah Zuberi, Dan Guerrant, Dennis Harris, Maria Banks, Mark Dillard

Small Satellite Conference

Introduction

• In January of 2025, the Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Mission 1 (BGM1) lunar lander launched as part of the 19D task order through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

• One of the payloads it carried was the “Radiation Tolerant Computer”, or RadPC.

• RadPC tested a novel FPGA-based computer technology designed to recover from single-event-effects (SEEs).

• The RadPC payload also carried three dosimeters tuned to different energy levels to measure total ionizing dose (TID)

Mosaic - A Modular Orbital Satellite For Advanced Innovation And Curriculum, Evan Jellison

Small Satellite Conference

This paper presents MOSAIC (Modular Orbital Satellite for Advanced Innovation and Curriculum), an open-source, modular satellite platform designed to advance space technology education and to accelerate satellite mission design. MOSAIC is a demonstrator satellite, or “mocksat” that leverages commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and a modular hardware ecosystem to make satellite technology accessible, affordable, and adaptable for educational institutions and research teams. This work details the technical architecture of MOSAIC, its potential educational benefits, cost analysis, and open-source philosophy, demonstrating its goals to democratize access to satellite engineering and foster the next generation of space professionals.

Revolutionizing Space Thermal Control: The Breakthroughs And Applications Of Pulsating Heat Pipes, Matt Schultz, Jimmy Hughes, Mckenzie Sandberg

Small Satellite Conference

The development of Pulsating Heat Pipes (PHP) offers significant advancements in thermal control technologies. This poster reviews the fundamental mechanisms of PHPs, manufacturing processes, and focuses on how PHPs fit into the current thermal architecture for satellite, payload, and instrument thermal control to identify the best use cases and application of the emerging technology.

Propelling The Future Of Satellite Mobility: In-Orbit Demonstration Of The Go-2 Electric Propulsion System, Kevin Lausten

Small Satellite Conference

As satellite deployment accelerates across both commercial and institutional missions, the limitations of onboard propulsion, especially in SmallSats, are emerging as a key constraint in mission flexibility and sustainability. In 2023, more than 2,860 SmallSats were launched, accounting for 97% of all spacecraft and 63% of total orbital mass [1].

Despite this expansion, propulsion remains a critical constraint in the SmallSat development ecosystem. As of 2024, only 222 nanosatellites out of 2714 nanosatellites launched had confirmed onboard propulsion systems [5], limiting maneuverability, increasing deployment risks, and contributing to orbital debris. This gap reflects not a lack of technological capability, but …

Squidsat: Preparing Future Workforce Using Competition, Joe Dubois, Aaron Bournias, Joe Dukowitz

Small Satellite Conference

SquidSat is a 3u student-led CubeSat mission funded and mentored by the Interplanetary Initiative Lab (IPL) at Arizona State University (ASU). The Overarching goal of SquidSat is to streamline CubeSat development and make payload integration as simple as possible for as large of a range of payload requirements as possible. This idea encourages a wide range of development within the space industry and universities, as it provides ways for professors and students alike to make a satellite payload without needing to know how to make an entire satellite. SquidSat utilizes the spirit of competition to encourage students, labs, and companies …

Streamlined Calibration For Small Satellite Optical Payloads, Deron Scott, Cole Miller, Eli Shay, Shane Canfield, Scott Hansen, Matt Berghout, Jan Kunzler, Duane Miles

Small Satellite Conference

Poster presented during the 2025 SmallSat Conference.

Success Designing A Smallsat Multi-Function Electric Actuator With Cots Hardware., Clay Allen

Small Satellite Conference

Poster presented during the 2025 SmallSat Conference.

The Exploration Company's Mission Possible Demonstration Mission, Daniel Gillies, Jon Reijneveld

Small Satellite Conference

Poster presented during the 2025 SmallSat Conference.

Three-Dimensional Radiation Patterns Of Cubesats And Link Budget Without Attitude Control, Daisuke Nakayama, Kei Sano, Rin Sato, Yusuke Iwaki, Shunya Hayashi, Arisa Oho, Sayanju Sirash

Small Satellite Conference

As CubeSat missions demand higher data rates, directional patch antennas have increasingly replaced traditional monopole or dipole antennas, and ensuring omnidirectional coverage—especially under tumbling conditions—has become critical. To address this, we developed a three-dimensional radiation pattern measurement system that enables the evaluation of antenna characteristics across all possible CubeSat attitudes. To apply these measurements to practical operations, we introduce the Coverage Ratio of CubeSat Attitude (CRCA), which intuitively represents the percentage of satellite orientations that exceed a given required gain. In this study, we apply this methodology to the S-band downlink antenna system of VERTECS, a 6U CubeSat developed by …

Towards Increased Adoption Of Direct To Earth Optical Communications, Simon Fowler, Owain Pryce-Jones, Simran Mardhani, Edem Fiamanya, Alessandro Tringali

Small Satellite Conference

Poster presented during the 2025 SmallSat Conference.

Unikernels: A New Paradigm For Secure, Scalable, And Efficient Small Satellite Operations, Thomas Gazagnaire, Rizo Isrof, Virgile Robles, Miklos Tomka

Small Satellite Conference

Poster presented during the 2025 SmallSat Conference.

Nexosim, An Open-Source, Rust-Based Digital Twinning Framework For Hardware-In-The-Loop Testing And Virtual Flatsats, Serge Barral, Adam Chikha, Maciej Główka, Jakub Gramatyka, Illia Manzelha, Stanisław Massalski, Jaŭhien Piatlicki

Small Satellite Conference

Digital twinning has become a cornerstone of modern space systems, enabling robust in-orbit operations and ground verification and validation. For over two decades, major spacecraft manufacturers and space agencies have relied on Discrete Event Simulation (DES) to achieve these goals. The C++-based Simulation Modelling Platform (SMP), now an ECSS standard, has emerged as a unifying framework for these efforts. Despite the tremendous benefits of simulation-assisted spacecraft development, the complexity, rigidity, and lack of vendor-neutral implementations of SMP have limited its adoption in academia and the NewSpace sector. This gap is particularly concerning given the high failure rate of SmallSat missions, …

Novel Pressure-Based Electric Propulsion Discovery, Wesley Faler, Brad Berkson

Small Satellite Conference

This paper presents a novel electric propulsion system that uses pulsed plasma and ion- electron recombination to generate thrust primarily from internal pressure, using water vapor as propellant. In-space testing of the Poseidon^™ thruster demonstrated 37.49 mN average thrust and over 4,800 seconds specific impulse at under 1.5 W input power. A physics-based model captures the full mass, energy, and momentum balances and matches experimental results, supporting pressure as the dominant thrust mechanism. Experimental detection of proton–boron fusion in the exhaust plume further validates the system's plasma behavior and confirms a key element of its operating cycle.

Under-Actuated Target Tracking Performance - Flight Results From The Ghgsat-D Spacecraft, Niels Roth, Benoit Larouche, Robert E. Zee, Stéphane Lokocki, Laura Bradbury, Marcela Arias

Small Satellite Conference

The GHGSat-D spacecraft, a precursor demonstration to GHGSat’s commercial constellation, was launched on June 21 2016 into a polar Sun-synchronous orbit with altitude 507 km and local time of descending node 10:30. The spacecraft successfully demonstrated GHGSat’s novel payload’s ability to measure and monitor precise greenhouse gas emissions from low Earth orbit. Such measurements were enabled by custom target tracking maneuvers allowing its imaging spectrometer to pan across ground targets of interest at prescribed rates. In July 2017 one of its three reaction wheels exhibited signs of high friction, resulting in its discontinued use. With only two functional reaction wheels …

Klara (Kit De Mesures Pour La Rentrée Atmosphéeique): An Iterative Approach To Low-Cost Atmospheric Re-Entry Capsule, Paul Miailhe, Julien Annaloro, Florian Topeza, Stephane Galera

Small Satellite Conference

No abstract provided.

Big Data Solutions For Cubesat Mission Operations: A Case Study From The Michigan Exploration Lab, Daniil Voloshin, James W. Cutler

Small Satellite Conference

As space missions generate increasingly vast and complex datasets, efficient data management and processing solutions are critical. At the Michigan eXploration Lab (MXL) at the University of Michigan, where we design, build, and operate CubeSats, we have adopted big data technologies, specifically a Hadoop and Spark-based cluster, to address challenges in handling and analyzing large-scale data. These challenges include processing raw I/Q sample recordings from CubeSat satellite passes and suborbital missions, as well as mission-long spacecraft telemetry. The cluster leverages the distributed storage capabilities of the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) and the in-memory data processing power of Apache Spark, …

Near Real-Time Optimal Trajectory Design For Active Debris Removal With Verification And Validation Using Kompsat-1, Shawn Choi, Taeyeon Choe, Peter Ryu, Hyeongjun Park, Douglas Deok-Soo Kim

Small Satellite Conference

Geospace is getting busier with an increasing amount of debris, and their removal of such debris is becoming important for the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of geospace. The need for safe and sustainable removal has drawn significant attention to Active Debris Removal (ADR). When a chaser performs a fly-around maneuver to approach a target, it should solve the following optimization problem (OPT): (i) Minimize collision risk against other flying space objects, (ii) minimize fuel consumption, and (iii) maximize mission accomplishment. However, solving OPT is known to be very challenging, as it is at least NP-hard. This is because the trajectories …

Real-Time Space Weather Event Detection And Attribution Using Fpga-Based Machine Learning On Cubesats, Benjamin Lewis, Shawn Jones, Jonathan Phillips, Charles Swenson, Kade Howes

Small Satellite Conference

Utah State University has been developing hardware accelerators and machine learning algorithms for real-time detection and attribution of space weather events on small satellites. This research, funded under the Low-power Array for CubeSat Edge Computing Architecture, Algorithms, and Applications (LACE-C3A), is a NASA STMD-funded effort as part of the University Smallsat Technology Partnerships (USTP). In this paper, we present an FPGA implementation of an AI/ML algorithm for intelligent decision-making, enabling real-time space weather monitoring and now-casting of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs). EPBs are low-density plasma structures that form at low latitudes within the Earth’s ionosphere, rising along magnetic field lines …

Predicting Tle Covariance Using Transformer-Based Time Series Forecasting, Thijs Verhaeghe, Bart De Clerk, Ben Lauwens, Tjorven Delabie, Dirk Vandepitte, Bart Vandenbussche

Small Satellite Conference

This paper introduces the notion of using a transformer-inspired time series forecasting model, more specifically IBM’s Tiny Time Mixer (TTM), to predict the covariance of Two-Line Elements (TLEs). The pre-trained compact univariate model is finetuned on a dataset of historical TLEs. Using the well established technique of pairwise differencing, a fixed-interval time series of TLE covariances is generated. This series is merged with exogenous variables extracted from the TLEs themselves, such as the classical orbital elements. The multi-level modeling capabilities of the TTM allow it to capture inter-channel correlations, crucial to capture the complex interactions inherent in the prediction of …

A Radio Payload For In-Space Sub-Terahertz Communications, Andrew Benincasa, Sergi Aliaga, Albert Diez-Comas, Josep Miquel Jornet

Small Satellite Conference

This paper presents the first fully integrated design of a CubeSat-compatible sub-terahertz (sub-THz) radio payload for in-space communications at 225 GHz. Addressing the growing congestion in traditional RF bands and the limitations of Free Space Optical systems, the proposed system leverages recent breakthroughs in compact high-frequency front-ends, horn antenna arrays, and RFSoC-based digital processing to unlock multi-GHz bandwidths in the underutilized sub-THz spectrum. A detailed feasibility study confirms link closure from low Earth orbit using state-of-the-art components, and the payload’s architecture is engineered for real-time high-speed uplink/downlink under stringent CubeSat size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints. The proposed payload will …