Meeting the Challenge of More-Capable NanoSat Missions

Aguilar, Joseph A., The Aerospace Corp.; Barrera, Mark J., The Aerospace Corp.; Tsuda, Albert S., The Aerospace Corp.; Venturini, Catherine C., The Aerospace Corp.

doi:10.1117/3.2618157.ch11

Book: The Nanosatellite Revolution: 30 Years and Continuing

Editor(s): Henry Helvajian; Siegfried W. Janson

Author(s): Joseph Aguilar, Mark Barrera, Albert Tsuda, Catherine Venturini

Published: 2023

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2618157.ch11

Author Affiliations +

Abstract

NanoSat capabilities have advanced rapidly over the past decade, allowing them to address missions once thought to be too challenging, given the performance of early NanoSat systems and components. Early NanoSats, used for educational purposes, focused on training students in systems engineering, space science, and project management on development cycles suitable for university programs. These early NanoSats, characterized by lowpower, low-data-rate communications, and coarse pointing, had limited potential for addressing many operational missions. Their primary focus was on training the next generation of space scientists, engineers, and leaders, with less emphasis on pushing the state of the art in high-performance miniature platforms. Early perceptions of NanoSats were that they were toys and inadequate for most mission areas. However, those perceptions have been slowly changing as more NanoSats perform more-advanced space and Earth science, Earth imagery, and communications missions.