Paper Category: Space Science
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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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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:…
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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…
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Deriving Mission-Specific Radiation Test Fluence Targets from Orbital Survivability Requirements
Standard radiation hardness assurance methodologies prescribe fixed heavy-ion test fluences, typically 10^7 ions/cm2, to screen for Destructive Single Event Effects (DSEE). This paper examines the statistical and physical foundations behind this number. We show that a radiation test is a sequence of Bernoulli trials whose aggregate behaviour is described by the Poisson distribution, establishing a…
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Low SWaP Flight Board for High-Speed On-Board Data Handling, Processing and AI Inference
The continuous increase in payload data volume and mission autonomy requirements is driving the need for increasingly advanced on-board data handling and processing technologies in satellite systems. In particular, next-generation Earth observation, telecommunications, and distributed space architectures require high-performance processing capabilities to enable real-time data reduction, intelligent decision-making, and efficient use of downlink resources. Within…
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Comparative Analysis of ST-100 and ST-100M Hall Thruster Prototypes for Mission-Specific Applications
This study provides a comparative assessment of the ST-100 Hall-effect thruster and its magnetically shielded counterpart, the ST-100M, designed to enhance longevity by minimizing channel wall erosion. Erosion of dielectric channel walls remains a critical limitation for thruster operational life. The ST-100M incorporates an optimized magnetic topology, developed using ANSYS Maxwell simulations, to deflect ion…
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From Structure to System: Multifunctional 3D-Printed Satellite Architectures
Additive manufacturing offers significant potential for the development of highly integrated and cost-effective satellite structures. This research aims to evaluate the viability of monolithic 3D-printed satellite structures for space applications, with a focus on integrating mechanical supports, electrical routing, and electronic functionalities directly into the primary structure. By leveraging the monolithic nature of additive manufacturing,…
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Space weather forecasting using SARIMA
Solar fluxes and geomagnetic activity influence the temperature of the air, and consequently the density. These phenomena are hard to predict because of their highly nonlinear and stochastic nature. However, they have significant effects on LEO space missions and orbital decay time estimations, since air drag is one of the major perturbations in this region.…
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The Final Barrier to High-Performance Computing in Space: Architectures for Mitigating Catastrophic Radiation Effects
The increasing ambition of commercial and institutional space missions is driving demand for onboard computing capabilities far beyond traditional spacecraft avionics. Applications such as orbital data centers, large satellite constellations, autonomous mission operations, and real time data processing increasingly depend on high performance GPUs, advanced processors, high density solid state storage, and complex commercial electronic…