PocketQube

PocketQube
Specifications
Launch mass	250g
Dimensions	5 × 5 × 5 cm (1p)
Production
Launched	Total: 43; Orbital: 34 + 6 failed; Suborbital: 2 + 1 failed;

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 (Unicorn-2b)	3p	Stara Space	Experimental			2019-084D	No longer in orbit	Alba Orbital	Decay: 2020-12-29^[11]
Noor 1b (Unicorn-2c)	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

List of Suborbital PocketQubes
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[]

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 SERENE Website @ UoB
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.

Notes[]

^ Also known as T-LogoQube, MagPocketQube, Eagle-1
^ Intended to reach orbit. Launch vehicle failed while under first stage flight on a suborbital trajectory.

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[]

[6] Also known as T-LogoQube, MagPocketQube, Eagle-1

[15] Intended to reach orbit. Launch vehicle failed while under first stage flight on a suborbital trajectory.

[1] Twiggs, Bob. "Making it small" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2013.

[2] Alba Orbital

[3] "Kickstarter". Retrieved 1 October 2013.

[4] "Kickstarter, Wired UK". Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.

[5] "AMSAT UK". Retrieved 22 November 2013.

[7] "Technical details for satellite BEAKERSAT 1". N2YO.com - Real Time Satellite Tracking and Predictions. Retrieved 2019-12-19.

[8] "SATVIEW - EAGLE 2 - Norad 39436U - Tracking satellites and Spacejunk in Real time". Retrieved 23 May 2018.

[9] "SMOG-P - NORAD 44832 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking". www.satflare.com. Retrieved 2020-09-28.

[10] "ATL-1 - NORAD 44830".

[11] "FOSSASAT-1 - NORAD 44829 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking".

[12] "NOOR 1A".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[13] "NOOR 1B - NORAD 44828 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking". www.satflare.com. Retrieved 2020-04-11.

[14] "TRSI - NORAD 44831 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking".

[16] "UBC Rocket BCIT launch".

[17] "UBC Rocket".

[18] "Black Tusk Launch".

[19] "Standard". Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2013.

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