EUROPE’S LARGEST SMALLSAT CONFERENCE

JUne 1-3, 2027 | RAI, Amsterdam

Paper Category: Research

  • Resolving Sgr A* at 86 GHz using T-REX: Time-Resolving Explorer Satellite

    We present T-REX: The Time-Resolving Explorer Satellite, a mission concept for a low-Earth-orbit (LEO) small satellite (M~85kg, P~1kW, >$50M) designed to explore the feasibility of millimeter-wave very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) from space. T-REX will operate at 86 GHz and seeks to achieve a temporal resolution of 22.5 minutes, enabling minute-scale sampling of the light…

  • Enabling Secure Maritime Connectivity: MAIV of the MICE-1 CubeSat Mission

    The increasing reliance of Maritime IoT and Internet of Vessels (IoV) applications on satellite connectivity places stringent requirements not only on system architecture and communications performance, but also on the robustness, manufacturability, and verification of spaceborne platforms operating in demanding environments. In this context, nanosatellite missions targeting maritime services must balance tight mass, volume, and…

  • Quantized AI Inference on Constrained Embedded Platforms for Small-Satellite Settings

    In resource-constrained small-satellite settings, AI inference must operate under tight size, power, and payload budgets, which tend to limit onboard compute capability and data handling. These conditions motivate establishing a clear baseline for quantized AI inference under bounded compute and memory resources. To instantiate this baseline, a representative embedded-vision neural-network workload serves as the reference…

  • MediSat: A Secure Delay-Tolerant CubeSat Constellation for Medical Data Relay in Infrastructure-Degraded Environments

    Reliable transmission of medical data during disasters and in remote regions remains a critical challenge due to damaged, congested, or nonexistent terrestrial communication infrastructure. This paper presents MediSat, a SmallSat-based system concept for secure, delay-tolerant relay of medical data using a constellation of CubeSats operating in low Earth orbit. The proposed architecture employs a store-and-forward…

  • Semi-Autonomous Reconnaissance Satellite: A Laboratory Demonstration of End-to-End On-Board Mission Autonomy

    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…

  • Component-Level Polymer Composite Spot Shielding for Radiation and Thermal Management in SmallSats

    The increasing use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) electronics in SmallSat platforms offers significant advantages in cost, performance, and development speed; however, radiation tolerance and thermal constraints often force conservative spacecraft-level shielding strategies. Bulk aluminum enclosures introduce substantial size, weight, and power (SWaP) penalties and frequently require entire subsystems to be over-shielded based on the most radiation-sensitive…

  • Characterising Space Weather Risks for LEO SmallSats Using the ESA Space Weather Service Network.

    SmallSat missions in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) operate in an environment that can change rapidly in response to space weather. Limited design margins, growing levels of autonomy, and the increasing number of satellites in orbit make it essential for operators to understand and anticipate space weather–driven risks. This paper focuses on three operationally significant categories:…

  • A 37.5 to 42.5 GHz Broadband SiGe Analog Linearizer RFIC for Q- Band Satellite Power Amplifier Linearization

    This work presents a compact broadband analog linearizer RF integrated circuit (LRFIC) for Q band satellite payloads, designed in IHP 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS technology and covering 37.5–42.5 GHz. The proposed LRFIC realizes a split path predistortion architecture: a linear branch (LB) forwards and amplifies the carrier with minimal distortion using a tunable true time…

  • CROMIS – The case for an orbital H-alpha solar telescope

    Monitoring of the Sun and space weather is becoming increasingly important, with applications ranging from satellite and astronaut safety to GNSS reliability and power grid operations. The chromosphere, a complex and dynamic layer of the Sun’s atmosphere best visible in the H-alpha spectral line, holds significant information for resolving open questions like coronal heating and…

  • Passive Modular Ring-Truss Deployment of a Large-Area Membrane Aperture from a 1U CubeSat Volume

    The increasing operational demands placed on CubeSat platforms have intensified the challenge of accommodating large deployable apertures within severely constrained launch volumes. This study investigates a compact deployable membrane payload capable of stowing entirely within a 1U CubeSat volume while achieving a substantially larger deployed area. The proposed system combines a modular collapsible ring-truss with…