PocketQube
Specifications | |
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Launch mass | 250g |
Dimensions | 5 × 5 × 5 cm (1p) |
Production | |
Launched |
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A PocketQube is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a size of 5 cm cubed (one eighth the volume of a CubeSat), has a mass of no more than 250 grams, and typically uses commercial off-the-shelf components for its electronics.
Beginning in 2009,[1] Morehead State University (MSU) and Kentucky Space developed the PocketQube specifications to help universities worldwide to perform space science and exploration. While the bulk of development comes from academia, several companies build PocketQubes, such as Fossa Systems and Alba Orbital.[2] PocketQube projects have even been the subject of Kickstarter campaigns.[3][4] The PocketQube format is also popular with amateur radio satellite builders.[5]
Design[]
The PocketQube specification accomplishes several high-level goals. Simplification makes it possible to design and produce a workable satellite at low cost. Encapsulation of the launcher-payload interface takes away the prohibitive amount of managerial work previously required for mating a piggyback satellite with its launcher. Unification among payloads and launchers enables quick exchanges of payloads and utilization of launch opportunities on short notice. PocketQube is similar to CubeSat in this regard.
The standard was first proposed by Professor Bob Twiggs of Morehead State University, and the intention was for a satellite which could fit in a pocket, hence the name PocketQube.
Workshops[]
The first US workshop was held at NASA Ames and at Cape Canaveral in April 2014. There was a three-year gap until the next PocketQube workshop was held at TU Delft in The Netherlands in March 2017. The third workshop took place also at TU Delft in March 2018, with 22 presentations and 70 attendees. This is now an annual event for the PocketQube development community.
Launched[]
Listed in ascending order by launch date.
Name | Type | Organisation | Mission | Launch Date (UTC) | Rocket | COSPAR ID | Status | Broker | Decay date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beakersat-1[a] | 2.5p | Morehead State University, Sonoma State University | Teaching Tool | 2013-11-21, 07:11 | Dnepr | 2013-066X | No longer in orbit | GAUSS | Decay: 2019-02-13[6] |
$50Sat (Eagle-2) | 1.5p | Amateur Group | Amateur Mission | 2013-066W | No longer in orbit | GAUSS | Decay: 2018-05-18[7] | ||
QubeScout-S1 | 2.5p | University of Maryland, Baltimore County | Sensor/dynamic attitude experiments | 2013-066AD | In orbit | GAUSS | |||
WREN | 1p | Stadoko UG | Tech demo, Camera SSTV, 3 Axis Reaction Wheel and pp Thrusters | 2013-066V | In orbit | GAUSS | |||
SMOG-P | 1p | Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary | Measurement of the radio spectrum in the UHF TV band | 2019-12-6,
08:18 |
Electron | 2019-084J | No longer in orbit | Alba Orbital | Decay: 2020-09-28[8] |
ATL-1 | 2p | Advanced Technology of Laser | Test a new thermal isolation material in space | 2019-084G | No longer in orbit | Alba Orbital | Decay: 2020-10-9[9] | ||
FossaSat-1 | 1p | Fossa Systems | LoRa Demonstration & Deployable solar panels. | 2019-084F | No longer in orbit | Alba Orbital | Decay: 2020-10-28[10] | ||
Noor 1a | 3p | Stara Space | Experimental | 2019-084D | No longer in orbit | Alba Orbital | Decay: 2020-12-29[11] | ||
Noor 1b | 3p | Stara Space | Experimental | 2019-084E | No longer in orbit | Alba Orbital | Decay: 2020-04-07[12] | ||
TRSI | 1p | ACME AtronOmatic, LLC (MyRadar) | Amateur, testing novel receiver | 2019-084H | No longer in orbit | Alba Orbital | Decay: 2020-10-13[13] | ||
DIY-1 / ARDUIQUBE | 1p | DIYSATELLITE | Technology Demonstrator | 2021-3-22, 06:07:12 | Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat | 2021-022AH | In orbit | GAUSS | |
STECCO | 6p | School of Aerospace Engineering of Sapienza University of Rome | Laser Ranging | 2021-022AG | In orbit | GAUSS | |||
SMOG-1 | 1p | Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary | Measurement of the radio spectrum in the UHF TV band | 2012-022AJ | In orbit | GAUSS | |||
GENESIS N | 1.5p | AMSAT EA | Amateur radio / Thruster Experiment | 2021-9-3, 01:59 | Firefly Alpha / SUV | N/A | Launch failure | FOSSA System / Libre Space Foundation | Decay (suborbital): 2021-9-3[b] |
GENESIS L | 1.5p | AMSAT EA | Amateur radio / Thruster Experiment | Launch failure | |||||
QUBIK 1 | 1p | Libre Space Foundation | Technology Demonstrator | Launch failure | |||||
QUBIK 2 | 1p | Libre Space Foundation | Technology Demonstrator | Launch failure | |||||
FOSSASAT 1b | 1p | Fossa Systems | LoRa Demonstration | Launch failure | |||||
FOSSASAT 2 | 2p | Fossa Systems | LoRa Demonstration | Launch failure | |||||
Unicorn 1 | 2p | Alba Orbital UG | Inter-sat link | 2022-1-13, 15:25 | Falcon 9 | TBD | In orbit | Alba Orbital / Exolaunch | |
Unicorn 2A | 3p | Alba Orbital UG | Earth observation | In orbit | |||||
Unicorn 2D | 3p | Alba Orbital UG | Earth observation | In orbit | |||||
Unicorn 2E | 3p | Alba Orbital UG | Earth observation | In orbit | |||||
Unicorn 2TA1 | 1p | Carnegie Mellon University | Earth observation | In orbit | |||||
Delfi-PQ | 3p | Delft University of Technology | IoT | In orbit | |||||
Hades | 1.5p | AMSAT EA | Amateur radio | In orbit | |||||
EASAT-2 | 1.5p | AMSAT EA | Amateur radio / Science | In orbit | |||||
Sattla-2A | 2p | Ariel University | Education | In orbit | |||||
Sattla-2B | 2p | Ariel University | Education | In orbit | |||||
PION-BR1 | 1p | PION Labs | Technology Demonstrator | In orbit | |||||
MDQube-SAT1 | 2p | Innova Space | Technology Demonstrator | In orbit | |||||
Grizu-263a | 1p | Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University | Technology Demonstrator | In orbit | |||||
Challenger | 3p | Quub / Intuidex | Technology Demonstrator | In orbit | FOSSA Systems / Exolaunch | ||||
SanoSat-1 | 1p | Orion Space | Technology Demonstrator | In orbit | |||||
WISeSAT-1 (FOSSASAT-2E1) | 2p | WISeKey | IoT | In orbit | |||||
WISeSAT-2 (FOSSASAT-2E2) | 2p | WISeKey | IoT | In orbit | |||||
CShark Pilot 1 (FOSSASAT-2E3) | 2p | CShark | IoT | In orbit | |||||
Laika (FOSSASAT-2E4) | 2p | Porkchop | Technology Demonstrator | In orbit | |||||
FOSSASAT-2E5 | 2p | FOSSA Systems | IoT | In orbit | |||||
FOSSASAT-2E6 | 2p | FOSSA Systems | IoT | In orbit |
Name | Type | Organisation | Mission | Launch Date (UTC) | Rocket | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Astria | 5p | BCIT Satellite Launch Program | Test structural feasibility at 30,000 feet for new design | 2018-06-21[14] | UBC Black Tusk[15] | Launch failure[16] |
TQube | 1p | Amateur Group | Insulation testing and recording of structural dynamics | 2019-10-11, 18:37 | Neutron | Success |
MDQube SAT-1 prototype | 1.25p | Innova Space | Technology demonstration | 2021-06-11 | Aventura I-e2 | Success |
In development[]
This list is incomplete; you can help by . (July 2014) |
Name | Type | Organisation | Mission | Launch Date (UTC) | Rocket | Broker | Status | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OzQube-1[permanent dead link] | 1p | Picosat Systems | Earth Observation | TBC | TBC | TBC | In development | Team Interview |
Discovery 1a | 1p | Mini-Cubes, LLC | Camera / Photo Sat | TBC | TBC | TBC | In development | Windform XT based PocketQube testing of the shelf components for space use |
UoMBSat1 | 1p | University of Malta + University of Birmingham | Technology Demonstrator + Ionospheric Sounder | TBC | TBC | TBC | In development | ASTREA Website @ UoM |
APRS PocketQube | 1p | National Chiao-Tung University | APRS PocketQube for Moving Objects Tracking | TBC | TBC | TBC | In development | |
UBO | 1p | Satellite Applications Catapult | Outreach | TBC | TBC | TBC | In Development | http://buildubo.co.uk/build/ |
Myansat-1 | 1p | Independent | Outreach | TBC | TBC | TBC | In Development | https://web.archive.org/web/20190115020853/http://myansat.com/ |
TFTQube | 1p | The Flame Trench | Amateur | TBC | TBC | TBC | In Development | https://theflametrench.com/flagship/ |
TBC | TBC | University of Zacatecas | STEM | TBC | TBC | TBC | In Development | https://www.research"ate.net/project/Design-and-Implementation-of-a-PocketQube-system-for-educative-purposes |
LibertyQube-1 | 1p | Liberty Life LLc | Experimental | TBC | TBC | TBC | In Development | https://www.libertylife-llc.com/ |
SatDuino | 1p | Technical School N° 5 of Mar Del Plata | Education | TBC | TBC | TBC | In Development | https://satduinot5t1.wixsite.com/satduino |
BYqube-1 | 1p | Brigham Young University | Education | TBC | TBC | TBC | In Development | |
Pycubed-1 | 1p | Stanford University | Education | TBD | Alba Orbital | In Development | ||
Trsi-2 | 1p | Acme | Q2 2021 | Falcon 9 | Alba Orbital Cluster 3 | Integrated | ||
CMU PocketQube | 1p | Carnegie Mellon University | TBD | Alba Orbital | In Development | |||
DynOSSAT-EDU | 1p | BHDynamics | TBC | TBC | TBC | In Development | ||
BerretaSat-1 | 1p | Aerozono Space Technologies (Argentina) | Earth Observation/ Technology Demonstrator | TBC | TBC | TBC | In Development | |
TRSI-3 | 1p | Acme | STV imaging/downlink beacon | February 2021 | Falcon 9 | Fossa Systems | In
Development |
|
Canary Hatchling | 1p | Care Weather Technologies | Constellation Pathfinder | February 2021 | Falcon 9 | Fossa Systems | In
Development |
|
BeliefSat-1 | 2p | K. J. Somaiya Institute of Engineering and Information Technology | Educational mission demonstrating PocketQube technologies | TBC | TBC | TBC | In Development | https://github.com/NewLeapKjsieit/BeliefSat |
MRC-100 (formerly SMOG-2) | 3p | Budapest University of Technology and Economics | Radio spectrum measurement, technology demonstration | Q4 2022 | Falcon 9 | Alba Orbital | In development | http://gnd.bme.hu/smog |
GENESIS-G | 1.5p | AMSAT EA | Amateur radio / Thruster experiment | TBC | TBC | TBC | In development | |
GENESIS-J | 1.5p | AMSAT EA | Amateur radio / Thruster experiment | TBC | TBC | TBC | In development | |
URESAT | 1.5p | AMSAT EA / URE | Amateur radio | Q3 2022 | Falcon 9 | Alba Orbital | In development |
PocketQube vs PocketQub[]
The PocketQube standard originally started as PocketQub.[17] This was changed in 2012 by Professor Bob Twiggs of Morehead State University. The standard is now referred to as PocketQube.
Launch[]
As of December 2019, the only launch brokers capable of providing launch integration for PocketQube satellites are Fossa Systems, Libre Space Foundation, Alba Orbital and GAUSS Srl.
See also[]
Notes[]
References[]
- ^ Twiggs, Bob. "Making it small" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
- ^ Alba Orbital
- ^ "Kickstarter". Retrieved 1 October 2013.
- ^ "Kickstarter, Wired UK". Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
- ^ "AMSAT UK". Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ^ "Technical details for satellite BEAKERSAT 1". N2YO.com - Real Time Satellite Tracking and Predictions. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
- ^ "SATVIEW - EAGLE 2 - Norad 39436U - Tracking satellites and Spacejunk in Real time". Retrieved 23 May 2018.
- ^ "SMOG-P - NORAD 44832 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking". www.satflare.com. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
- ^ "ATL-1 - NORAD 44830".
- ^ "FOSSASAT-1 - NORAD 44829 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking".
- ^ "NOOR 1A".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "NOOR 1B - NORAD 44828 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking". www.satflare.com. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
- ^ "TRSI - NORAD 44831 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking".
- ^ "UBC Rocket BCIT launch".
- ^ "UBC Rocket".
- ^ "Black Tusk Launch".
- ^ "Standard". Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
External links[]
- Satellites by type