Paper Category: Scientific
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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…
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ESA Scout HydroGNSS Early Mission Results
The ESA Scout HydroGNSS mission, launched in December 2025 will provide measurements of key hydrological climate variables, including soil moisture, freeze–thaw state over permafrost, inundation and wetlands, and above-ground biomass, using a novel technique called Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) reflectometry. According to GCOS there is a shortage of high-quality soil moisture data, a key…
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Ensuring Orbital Safety from T-0: The Critical Imperative for Immediate Post-Launch Collision Avoidance
As the density of the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment increases, driven by frequent rideshare missions and the deployment of mega-constellations, the initial phase of satellite operations has emerged as a period of heightened orbital risk. Historically, collision avoidance (COLA) processes have relied on established tracking by Space Situational Awareness (SSA) providers. However, this study…
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L-FIRE: A Distributed Aperture CubeSat Radio Telescope
The Low-Frequency Interferometric Radio Explorer (L-FIRE) is a proposed space-based mission concept designed to unlock the low-frequency radio spectrum (1–40 MHz). Regimes below 10 MHz are of particular interest, as they are largely inaccessible from the ground due to ionospheric opacity. L-FIRE will deploy a distributed interferometric observatory composed of 10 or more CubeSats, each…
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Moonraker: De-Risking Lunar Landing Sites with High Resolution LiDAR
With renewed international interest in returning mankind to the Moon, safely landing both robotic and manned landers on the rough surface has become a critical challenge. Hazards such as small boulders, craters, and slopes can easily tip a lander and are often not visible in current elevation maps of the Moon. Today’s best topographic data…
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RF Interference Mitigation for Dual S-Band Links on a 6U CubeSat: Preliminary Hardware Validation
This paper presents the RF communication system architecture and preliminary hardware validation for the ALIGN (Autonomous Laser-based Inter-satellite Gigabit Network) mission, comprising a pair of 6U CubeSats equipped with FOCUS (Free-space Optical Communications Unit for Space), an experimental payload demonstrating high-data-rate optical inter-satellite links in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Each platform features co-located S-band Radio…
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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…
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Autonomous FSM Architecture for Commissioning and Differential Drag Control in CubeSat Formations
The operational success of inter-satellite laser link (ISL) missions in CubeSat constellations depends on the strict management of conflicting requirements: energy harvesting, high-precision payload targeting, and orbital maintenance. This paper presents an automated onboard mission logic designed to manage the relative distance of a two-satellite 6U in formation flight (ranging from 100 km to 1000…
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Towards an open source, systems-level mission planning and analysis tool
The traditional systems engineering workflow requires synthesis of subsystem design information into technical budgets, performance simulations, and other metrics of mission credibility and value. Projects often use a diverse mixture of spreadsheet calculators and custom and commercial simulation software to draw mission-level conclusions from subsystem-level design information and requirements. This approach suffers from two inefficiencies.…
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AI-Based Navigation for Lunar Satellites in VLLO
This paper presents the design and preliminary validation of the Lunar Intelligent Navigation via Neural Architecture (LINNA) payload, a technology demonstration integrated into the SelenITA mission—Brazil’s first lunar CubeSat. The experiment is motivated by the future needs for autonomous state estimation in the Very Low Lunar Orbit (VLLO) regime, where Mascon-induced gravitational anomalies challenge traditional…