8 Steps to Improving SmallSat Mission Success
Want to build a CubeSat? No problem. Today, anybody can build these miniature spacecrafts in their garage with blueprints off the internet with commercial parts and this list for mission success compiled by CubeSat experts.
Making Launch Faster and More Efficient
Compact satellites often need to hitch rides with larger government, civil, or commercial payloads to get into orbit. A standardized form factor could make it easier to launch these satellites that are too small to merit a dedicated launch vehicle, but too big for a CubeSat deployer. A working group comprised of industry, academia, and governmental participants have published a preliminary Launch Unit standard, now available for review by the SmallSat community. Feedback is both welcome and encouraged.
Powering Small Satellites with Micropropulsion Technology
A leader in micropropulsion testing and integration for CubeSats, Aerospace’s micropropulsion facility has the unique capability to test cutting-edge microthruster technology that efficiently powers small satellites.
Communicating and Converging CubeSats
A satellite smaller than a loaf of bread beamed a laser to the ground, transmitting 100 megabits of data per second, a rate 50 times greater than typical communication systems for this size CubeSat. This same satellite also demonstrated much-needed maneuvering capabilities that brought it within 20 feet of its twin satellite.
Brane Craft Wins NASA Award
The Aerospace Corporation’s role as an industry leader in supporting government and commercial customers in space debris management has been further cemented through the awarding of the 2017 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase II award to Dr. Siegfried Janson for the Brane Craft, his innovative concept for removing space debris.
