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 cost constraints with high reliability, secure data handling, and rapid development cycles.
This paper presents the Manufacturing, Assembly, Integration, and Verification (MAIV) approach adopted for MICE-1, a commercial CubeSat mission developed by Prisma Electronics to provide private, secure vessel-to-space communications integrated with the company’s LAROS remote monitoring platform. The work details the end-to-end MAIV flow, from subsystem manufacturing and acceptance through spacecraft-level integration, functional testing, and environmental qualification, tailored to support maritime-oriented mission requirements.
The paper discusses key challenges encountered during assembly, integration and verification. The applied verification campaign, encompassing functional, vibration, thermal-vacuum, and system-level tests, is described along with lessons learned and mitigation strategies that informed design refinements and reduced commissioning risk.
By documenting the MAIV methodology and practical insights gained during the development of MICE-1, this work contributes a reference framework for future commercial maritime CubeSat missions. The presented experience demonstrates how a structured and risk-aware MAIV process can support reliable mission deployment, accelerate time-to-orbit, and enable resilient and secure maritime satellite services.
This mission is supported by the Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications / Satellites Programmes Department (CSC-P) of the European Space Agency (ESA).