Paper Category: Systems Engineering & Integration
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BOREALIS: Phase-B Results of a Dual-Orbit 6U CubeSat for In-Orbit Biofilm Radiation Experiments
BOREALIS (Biofilm Onboard Radiation Exposure Assessment Lab In Space) is a 6U CubeSat mission developed under the Italian Space Agency (ASI) ALCOR program, aimed at enabling controlled biological experimentation across multiple radiation environments in space. The mission adopts an innovative dual-phase orbital concept, performing biofilm exposure experiments first in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and subsequently…
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Evaluation of Heterogeneous Data Fusion for Real-Time Agricultural Stress Monitoring in Small-Scale Farming Ecosystems
Smallholder agricultural systems represent a critical frontier for climate resilience strategies, yet they are often underserved by traditional remote sensing frameworks due to fragmented land parcels and low-frequency reporting. This research investigates an autonomous geospatial framework designed to synthesize multi-source satellite data, specifically Sentinel-2 MSI optical imagery and CHIRPS precipitation datasets, to detect and characterize…
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SPOCK: Enabling Cognitive Cloud Computing in Space for Low Latency Earth Observation
The SPOCK (Smart Processing Orbital Cloud Konstellation) initiative introduces novel constellation architecture concepts designed to enable Cognitive Cloud Computing in Space (3CS) capabilities addressing the growing demand for low-latency and high-performance data processing in Earth Observation (EO) missions. The project is currently being carried out by Indra and Aresys under ESA funding and follows up…
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WAVE-XS: Water-Based Micropropulsion for Smallsats
Europe’s rapid smallsat scaling is increasing demand for propulsion that is safe to handle, simple to integrate, and operationally useful across the full mission lifecycle—including collision-avoidance maneuvers and end-of-life deorbit. This paper presents WAVE-XS, a water-centered micropropulsion architecture for CubeSats and small spacecraft that uses stored liquid water as the only consumable and converts it…
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Scaling Heat Rejection for High-Capability SmallSats: From Conduction to Deployable Two-Phase Radiators
The rapid growth of the SmallSat market has been driven by increased launch access and miniaturization and commercialization of spacecraft grade electronics, leading to steadily increasing onboard power and thus heat dissipation. As SmallSats evolve toward higher capability payloads, thermal control systems must reject greater heat loads while meeting aggressive Size, Weight, Power, and Cost…
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Optimisation of Star Tracker Orientation and Attitude Trajectories for Space-To-Ground Optical Communication on CubeSats
Optical communication systems promise a step-change in data return capability for CubeSats but introduce exceptionally demanding pointing requirements. In some cases, sub-milliradian level pointing of the satellite is required to successfully acquire a laser signal from the ground. This is further complicated by the relatively high angular velocities and angular accelerations of the satellite-to-ground target…
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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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Dynamic Response of CubeSat Structures to Launch Loads
CubeSats and other small satellites experience harsh dynamic conditions during launch, where broadband random vibration and high-frequency shock events can pose a significant risk to structural integrity and onboard components. This paper investigates the dynamic response of a CubeSat primary structure when subjected to representative launch vibration and shock environments. A finite element model of…
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Autonomous Space Domain Awareness for Small Satellites Using Integrated Optical Imaging and Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation
This work presents an integrated approach to autonomous Space Domain Awareness (SDA) for Smallsat missions by combining advanced Resident Space Object detection and SSA/SDA software with space-qualified optical imaging hardware and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation. The research focuses on the integration of LMO’s software stack for detection and tracking with Redwire’s SpectraTRAC and SpectraCam sensors, with…
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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…