Paper Category: Missions
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Agile Earth Observation Under Operational Constraints: CMG vs Reaction-Wheel ACS
As small commercial Earth Observation constellations expand, operators strive to collect more data and increase value per spacecraft while maintaining low costs and deployment times. In this context, spacecraft agility is often overlooked in constellation design: how quickly a satellite can rotate and then meet pointing requirements largely sets how many targets it can image…
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Mission-level differential drag control for formation flying of 6U CubeSats through automated management of rule-based and power-budget modes.
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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In-orbit validation of Oxford Space Systems Deployable Wrapped Rib Antenna (WRA)
Oxford Space Systems (OSS) has achieved significant advancements in space deployable antennas, enabling small-satellite constellations through their low mass, low launch volume and high RF performance. Launched in January 2026 on a Falcon 9 rocket, OSS have collaborated with SSTL on the CarbSAR mission to successfully demonstrate and validate the technology of the innovative deployable…
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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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CleanCube: A Zero Debris CubeSat Platform
Following a pre-phase A study to assess the feasibility of CubeSats being compliant to various space debris mitigation rules, ISISPACE is engaging into the Phase A work for a proposed a 12U IOD/IOV CubeSat mission “CleanCube”. The project is part of ESA’s OSIP initiatives to demonstrate the technologies that can provide compliance to stricter space…
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Delivering Smallsat in a few weeks: Advancing Responsive Space Capabilities with Scalable Platforms
Responsive Space marks a fundamental shift in the way space-based services are developed, launched and operated. This evolution toward more adaptive architectures is driven by the growing need for rapid delivery, cost efficiency, and technical competitiveness in both commercial and military domains, at a pace that conflict with legacy satellite development processes, making the traditional…
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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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Structured Radio Wave Generation for Target State Estimation via Satellite Formations
This paper discusses next-generation radar systems utilizing structured radio waves, which allow for the integrated control of wavefront structure, polarization state, and phase. By leveraging the azimuthal information inherent in Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) modes, structured radio wave radar mitigates image distortion issues common in conventional plane-wave Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Furthermore, it enables advanced…
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UDAN: A Compact Deployable UHF Antenna Enabling High-Gain Links for CubeSats
The miniaturization of satellite platforms has imposed severe constraints on antenna systems, particularly for UHF links requiring high gain and polarization robustness. To address these challenges, this contribution introduces UDAN, a deployable UHF antenna concept designed to significantly enhance communication capabilities of CubeSats and other small spacecraft while remaining compliant with standard launch and deployment…
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Multi-sensor architectures for thermal imaging missions
Among the innovative offerings that NewSpace companies bring to the space industry, one of them is constellations of thermal instruments. Thermal infrared (TIR) imagers are inherently more challenging to calibrate and geolocate than visible and near-infrared (VNIR) instruments due to: • their lower spatial resolution • higher sensor noise levels and, • scarcity of stable…