Engineering Commons^™

Semi-Autonomous Reconnaissance Satellite: A Laboratory Demonstration Of End-To-End On-Board Mission Autonomy, Eran Shtoyerman, Raphael Cohen, Rafi Cohen, Oshri Fatkiev, Guy Zaidman, Gal Pinchas, Doron Shterman

Small Satellite Conference

Real-time satellite responsiveness to user requests from the field remains largely unavailable in current space systems. Such capabilities are typically restricted to low-altitude airborne platforms, primarily due to limited satellite communication bandwidth, intermittent ground contact, and the reliance on ground-based mission planning. Enabling true responsiveness requires a paradigm shift toward highly autonomous satellites, in which target selection, task execution, and mission planning are performed on board.

For example, a user may request a satellite to perform the following task in real-time: detect a ceiling tanker ship in a specified area, estimate its velocity from video data, and autonomously track the …

Twinning The On-Orbit Power Behavior Of Small Satellites Using Time-Domain Solar And Load Modeling, Nithin Krishnan S S, Vishnupriya P K, Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Jr-Chiun Roger Tsai, Tensae Ali, Jesmin Jose, Athira B S

Small Satellite Conference

Accurate estimation of on-orbit power availability under dynamic attitude conditions is critical to the reliable design of small satellite electrical power subsystems. During tumbling, detumbling, and mode transitions, rapid variations in solar incidence, eclipse exposure, and subsystem demand introduce strong temporal fluctuations that conventional static or orbit-averaged budgeting cannot capture.

This work presents a modular, time-domain power budgeting framework that models the coupled evolution of power generation, consumption, and energy storage under near-realistic attitude and operational conditions. Solar generation is computed from the time-varying Sun–spacecraft geometry for a multi-panel spacecraft, with per-panel MPPT, deployment state, angle-of-incidence effects, and eclipse …

Autongc Flight Opnav Experiment Results On Capstone, Andrew J. Liounis, Sun Hur-Diaz, Behnam Azimi, Nichalas L. Cason, Chris R. Gnam, Grant Hecht, Steven Z. Queen, Michael J. Romeo, Sean R. Semper, Nathan Stacey, Andrew Tennenbaum, Daniel G. Berdugo, Carl J. De Vries, Benjamin Leser, Anne Long, Liam A. Greenlee, Joseph W. Patton, Steven B. Slegel, Isaac R. Witte

Small Satellite Conference

Summary: We successfully demonstrated on-board automated optical navigation (OpNav) in a lunar near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) using images of the Moon, the Earth, and other solar system bodies, advancing the technology readiness level (TRL) of the autonomous guidance navigation and control (autoNGC) OpNav capabilities from 5 to 7.

Optical Advantages In Using Extremely Stable Materials In Small Satellite Telescopes, Tony Hull, Jesse Bonfeld, Dustin Ruth, Florian Gollier, Janina Krieg, Thomas Westerhoff, Jacqueline Caraballo

Small Satellite Conference

Small-satellite telescopes experience continuous thermal transients from changing Sun and Earth view factors plus CONOPS → temperature gradients T(xi) → distort mirrors/metering if the material is sensitive to temperature.

Transients are partially mitigated by diffusivity, but only with uniform temperature changes. Orbital and CONOPS transients are not uniform → The architect must examine the material response to realistic transients and gradients.

Optimal optical performance is supported by appropriate passive material attributes!

From Model To Mission: A Model-Based Method For Managing Spacecraft Ai&T Activities, Andy Young, Dan Christensen

Small Satellite Conference

Assembly, Integration, and Test (AI&T) is one of the most complex phases of spacecraft development, requiring engineers to coordinate interconnected procedures, specialized equipment, personnel, and evolving schedules. Traditional AI&T planning relies on separate diagrams, schedules, spreadsheets, and documents that must be manually synchronized, increasing engineering effort and the risk of inconsistencies. Meanwhile, many Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) methodologies effectively end before design implementation. We present a methodology that addresses these challenges by extending MBSE practices to provide a single source of truth for AI&T information.

Advancements In The Ma61c-Smallsat Hardware Board: Elevating Modular Adcs From Trl 5 To Trl 6, Saish Sridharan

Small Satellite Conference

LESSONS LEARNT AND DESIGN JUSTIFICATION

Output from previous phase

• RS422/RS485 Tranceiver: The LCT2865-based interface failed testing and should be redesigned for the next phase.
• Shielded Cabling: Properly grounded shielded cables eliminated JTAG communication instability.

Development Of Spacecraft Digital Twins For Flight Software Maintenance, Robert Klar

Small Satellite Conference

This research project developed a digital twin—a virtual representation of a physical spacecraft, including its components, interfaces, and communications. By leveraging the digital twin’s ability to be replicated, modified, and distributed efficiently, the project enhances capabilities in design, analysis, and optimization. It significantly reduces risk, cost, and development schedules for flight software by minimizing dependencies on hardware resources. The project was executed as a collaborative effort between the Intelligent Systems Division (10) and Space Systems Division (05).

Experimental Leo Cubesat Mission With Pnt And Communication Payloads, Chung-Sheng Lin, Chi-Kuang Chao, Yu-Xiang Lin

Small Satellite Conference

Background: The deployment of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) mega-constellations (e.g., Starlink, OneWeb, Pulsar, IRIS) has driven interest in LEO-based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) solutions [1], either through dedicated payloads or signals-of-opportunity.

Objectives: This work proposes a CubeSat mission aimed at verifying integrated LEO communication and positioning capabilities over Taiwan.

Methodology & Mission Plan:

- Constellation: One to four CubeSats will be deployed. Real-time positioning will be tested during simultaneous four-satellite visibility over Taiwan, while recorded-signal positioning will be used for partial constellations.

- Experiments: Dual-mode testing includes concurrent communication and positioning experiments, alongside communication-signal-based …

Robust Learning-Based Guidance For Close Proximity Operation Scenarios, Luis Sanchez, Charlotte Crawshaw, Reuben Lynch, Natalia Bajnokova, Murray Ireland, Hazel Quibell, Callum Wilson, Lucy Donnell, Maura Allan, Kevin Worral, Matteo Ceriotti

Small Satellite Conference

ROC-ML is a European Space Agency (ESA) funded project led by Craft Prospect in collaboration with University of Glasgow. The project leverages Machine Learning (ML) approaches to augment the performance of robust motion planning in space applications. The developed method of spacecraft motion planning must be suitably computationally efficient to be deployed on low SWAP space hardware.

Swap: An Ai-Enabled Cubesat For Low-Latency Space Weather Alerting, Miles H. Currie, Douglas Franz, Paul Kocyla, Omar Sharaf, Sarvesh Garimella

Small Satellite Conference

1 — Background

• Growing dependence on space-based assets (telecom, transport, grid, GPS) = growing space-weather exposure
• A Carrington-class storm today would mean cascading failures and losses in the trillions
• Current assets (e.g. GOES, ACE, DSCOVR) are excellent but large, costly, and with minutes to hours of alert latency from ground processing; weak coverage off the Earth–Sun line, where multi-point views could untangle the solar flare/SEP/ CME chain
• The Space Weather Alerting Platform (SWAP) concept mission (right) is a low-cost, 3U cubesat solution for proliferated solar monitoring with low-latency onboard AI alerting

A Feasibility-Aware Attitude Trajectory Planner For Small Satellites, Patrick Mckeen, Niclas Scheuer, Kerri Cahoy

Small Satellite Conference

Spacecraft attitude control traditionally requires extensive per-mission engineering—hand-tuned gains, mission-specific mode logic, and conservative operating envelopes—that breaks down when on-orbit conditions deviate from ground assumptions. This is especially costly for small satellites, where limited ground support makes autonomous adaptability essential. We present a feasibility-aware attitude trajectory planner that replaces this hand-engineered stack with continuous planning from a digital twin: less a new feedback law than a different division of labor, in which the mode logic, gain tuning, and desaturation a conventional ADCS builds as separate pieces are instead absorbed into a single optimization.

Built on the ALTRO trajectory optimization algorithm, …

Small Satellite Launches From Japan: Zero Launch Vehicle And Hokkaido Spaceport, Atsuta Keiji, Masaki Fujii

Small Satellite Conference

INTEGRATED LAUNCH SYSTEM

• Easy access to factory in case of last minute iterations
• Simplified logistics
• Launch site is tailored made for ZERO

High-Torque Reaction Wheels For Agile Small Satellites, Thomas Brunsgaard, Matt Carton, Kearney Lackas

Small Satellite Conference

Blue Canyon Technologies has developed a high-torque reaction wheel (RW) product line to meet the growing attitude control demands of next-generation small spacecraft. As small satellites expand into missions requiring rapid retargeting and precise pointing, spacecraft agility is foundational to mission performance. More targets equal more data collection, translating to greater mission insight and revenue generation. 

This paper describes Blue Canyon’s approach to product line architecture that enabled rapid development and deployment of high-torque reaction wheels across multiple size classes. The high-torque variants deliver 0.5 Nm of torque, representing a 2X increase over standard configurations with 60% of the baseline …

Shining A Spotlight On Maritime Dark Traffic, Alex Da Silva Curiel, Darren Jones, Rob Knight, Rupert Taylor, Leo Jofeh, Sir Martin Sweeting, Per Atle Våland, Simon Flack, Patrik Mandelin, Håkon Heier

Small Satellite Conference

The ability to support Maritime Domain Awareness from space using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has been successfully demonstrated in the past, however practical challenges in achieving the necessary area coverage, temporal coverage and spatial resolution for a practical system has eluded wider adoption. Yet demand for Maritime Surveillance has increased in recent years, to protect important maritime energy and communications infrastructure, fisheries, and maritime reserves, and especially for maintaining national security and territorial integrity. A novel approach to the SAR payload design solves these challenges, and smallsat technologies have also matured to the point where a High-Resolution Wide-Swath (HRWS) system …

Development Of Piezo Fast Steering Mirrors For Fso Inter-Satellite Communication, Frank Claeyssen, Arnaud Gilson, Thomas Maillard, David Ferris, Xavier De Lepine, Oliver Sosnicki, Jocelyn Rebufa, Clément Cote, Francis Bortolaso, Pascal Mexe

Small Satellite Conference

To allow faster communication between satellites, Radio Frequency (RF) links are being replaced by laser optical links, often called Free-Space Optical Communication (FSO). Each satellite embeds several optical communication terminals (OCT), each one needing two Fast Steering Mirrors (FSM) for laser beam fine and fast steering. Thus, for some giant constellations, the total number of FSM can reach up to 100 000 FSM. This New Space market induces not only technical challenges, such as good SWaP, but also industrial challenges, in particular reproducibility, cost-effectiveness and low cost of ownership vs Orbit segment. To address these various FSM needs, CEDRAT TECHNOLOGIES …

Vpx/Sosa Systems: Enabling Multi-Vendor Interoperability, Novo Space

Small Satellite Conference

Poster presented at the 2026 Small Satellite Conference

831sat: A Cubesat Subsystem Platform For Space Systems Development Education, Dominic S. Fucile, George Lordos, James Dingley, Kerri Cahoy, Paul Fucile

Small Satellite Conference

The CubeSat standard has become one of the most popular frameworks for co-curricular and extracurricular student satellite projects, yet its integration into formal curricula for space systems engineering remains limited.

Accessibility concerns:

• Students encountering satellite design for the first time face a learning curve when working with flight-representative hardware.
• Time constraints of undergraduate semesters limit the technical depth covered in a single course.
• Existing educational platforms often lack subsystem flexibility and fidelity needed to deliver an authentic systems engineering experience.

Presented is the 831Sat, a custom single board platform that provides core satellite subsystems:

• Central Processing Unit
• Electrical Power System …

Design And Implementation Of A Semi Automated Uhf Ground Station For Small Satellite Missions: A Case Study From India, Binoop Joseph, Vinayak Manoj, Thomas Francis, Madhav Vinod, Nikhil Jacob, Salih Majeed, Prajin I. R., Meghana Suresh, Salman Al Fariz K., Sijo George, Anish Chandra B. S., Anamika Kamath, Anjay Sudesh, Anurag Reghu, Aravind M. B., Manu Mohan, Ashfaque K. P., Amal Chandran

Small Satellite Conference

Mission success ultimately depends on reliable telecommand and telemetry links between spacecraft and Earth. For small satellites operating under tight power, size and link margin constraints, a technically robust and regulation compliant ground station is a mission critical enabler rather than an afterthought.

This poster presents a case study of a semi automated UHF ground station designed, built and commissioned by HEX20 in Thiruvananthapuram — one of the earliest privately owned and operated satellite ground stations in India — covering the hardware signal chain, the tracking and decoding software stack, integration and calibration, and the regulatory path to operation.

Modeling Liquid Propellant Slosh Disturbances For Small Satellite Attitude Control, Phillip Miret, Nathan Cole, Robert E. Zee

Small Satellite Conference

Objective:

Develop and optimize a reduced order spring-mass-damper (SMD) analogue of propellant slosh using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis. Evaluate the efficacy of generating feedforward compensation terms using the SMD model to improve attitude control performance during rapid spacecraft slews.

Schott Options For Efficient Design-To-Cost Zerodur® Optical Assemblies With Established Supply Chain Reliability, Florian Gollier, Jesse Bonfeld, Dustin Ruth, Janina Krieg, Thomas Westerhoff, Tony Hull, Jacqueline Caraballo

Small Satellite Conference

Poster presented at the 2026 Small Satellite Conference

The Quantum Cubesat: A Perspective For Quantum Technology In Orbit, Natalie Pearson, Andrew Kelly, Curtis Talbot, Colin Aitken, Kevin Quillen, Sandy Provan

Small Satellite Conference

Motivation

The ability to measure, control and exploit quantum effects has shown significant potential to outperform classical devices across a variety of applications in computing, sensing and communication. However, quantum devices today typically depend equipment that is large, heavy, expensive and delicate. Bringing quantum capability to space requires a relentless focus on miniaturisation, ruggedisation and applicability. Focusing engineering efforts on the most promising technologies to realise their benefits in orbit is a crucial step in this process.

Gigabit Ethernet Satellite Bus For Smallsat Applications: Standardizing Cots-Based High-Speed On-Board Data Communication, Lucas Felderhoff, Mathias Reibe

Small Satellite Conference

The satellite architectures of modern missions underline the increasing need to simplify and standardize on-board data buses. This requirement becomes more critical as missions demand higher data rates and greater flexibility.

Validation Of A Modular Adcs Architecture For Small Satellites, Saish Sridharan

Small Satellite Conference

Poster Presented at the 2026 Small Satellite Conference

Satellite Autonomous Launch Assembly (Satlass): Cold Gas Propulsion System Testing, Anthony Todisco Jr., Jaden Caradine, Justin Della, Essence Howard, Colin Mccaughey, Andrew Hawks, Alexander Kushto, Javier Narvaez, Gabriella Colon O'Hara, Franyerson Lopez Ochoa, Elizabeth Ptak, Diana Tormo, Francisco Crespo Cutillas, Sean Crouse, Lary Finberg

Small Satellite Conference

Project SATLASS plans to become one of the first cold gas propelled CubeSat Deployers used. Using Nitrogen gas, SATLASS will be able to place multiple CubeSats into customizable orbits autonomously. A modular housing unit will allow for 3-1U CubeSats to 1-3U CubeSat to ride along with SATLASS through Low Earth Orbit.

4dof Steam Propulsion System For 1u Cubesats And Larger, David Hinkley, Jonathan Cheng, Susan Ossareh, Jeff Asher, Logan Fernandez, Brenda Valdez, Bhargav Nagarajan, Aryan Jafari, Stephen Samples

Small Satellite Conference

Aerospace developed a warm gas water vapor propulsion system for the OCSD-A mission in 2015 and redesigned it for the AeroCube-10 mission in 2019. Those were single nozzle systems. The 2019 mission performed reliably so this design is an evolution to 5 thrusters. Also new is that the main tank is additively manufactured aluminum so that tubing can be embedded and thermal management is easier.

Advanced Avionics: Low Swap Hpsc Box For Space Autonomy, Behnam Azimi, Sun Hur-Diaz, Hossein Mohammadkhan, Michael Romeo, Sean Semper, Alan Cudmore

Small Satellite Conference

Objective: To provide a next-generation avionics system built on NASA's High Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) processor technology.

An End-To-End Optical And Ethernet Networking Architecture For Next-Generation Satellite Constellations, Gianluca Giuffrida, Francesco Falaschi

Small Satellite Conference

• Modern satellites generate ever-increasing data volumes, increasingly challenging traditional RF links. IngeniArs combines very high speed optical links, up to 10 Gbps, with an onboard Ethernet routing fabric
• Optical data is packetized and dynamically routed for onboard storage or processing, or relayed across the constellation from satellite to satellite until it reaches an available ground station
• The result is reduced time-to-ground, increased contact opportunities, and more resilient end-to-end data delivery across the space and ground segments, despite intermittent link availability

Autonomous Onboard Navigation And Mission Planning In A Lunar Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit, Carl De Vries, Robert Pritchett, Sun Hur-Diaz, Nathan Esantsi, Liam Greenlee, Ben Leser, Mike Romeo

Small Satellite Conference

autoNGC is a core Flight System (CFS) application suite that performs real-time, onboard autonomous navigation, guidance and control (autoNGC)

Lego®-Based Cubesats For Space Outreach, Stefan Brandle, Joshua Brown, Evan Smith, Drew Nye, Sydney Reddy, Twidy Kwae, Kaiya Grzesiak, Matthew Roderer, John Hetz

Small Satellite Conference

Taylor University Computer Science and Engineering is building a satellite having a LEGO®-robotics-based payload.

Mission Goals

• Have university students build a novel ELEO satellite
• Demonstrate viability of LEGO robotics electronics in space for short-term low-altitude missions
• Enhance space awareness by capturing the public's imagination through integral use of LEGO in an actual satellite
• Identify partners willing to provide advice and promote this project
• Create additional pathways for K-12 and university student participation in building satellites and satellite-related projects
• Support other space-education organizations through a high-visibility satellite project
• Continue space outreach efforts in the spirit of the ThinSat project
• ThinSat was …

Magnetic Balancing For Microvibration Reduction In Passive Magnetic Bearings For Smallsat Reaction Wheels, Deckers Niel, Baekeland Mante, Cuypers Cedric, Seiler Rene, Vandepitte Dirk, Delabie Tjorven

Small Satellite Conference

Reduction and mitigation of microvibrations constitutes a crucial field of interest in the research of spacecraft reaction wheels. This applies all the more so in small satellites, where even minimal sources of vibrations lead to imprecision of onboard instruments. To address this, magnetic bearings offer contactless support, and thus prevent several sources of microvibrations that exist in classical ball bearings, for instance the mechanical imperfections in rolling elements. The inherently low stiffness of magnetic bearings also significantly reduces the transmitted forces in reaction wheels. Another advantage of contactless support is its potential longer lifetime because of the absence …