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Small satellite

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File:Estcube-1 2012-12-27.jpg
ESTCube-1 1U CubeSat

A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under Template:Convert.<ref name=brycesmall>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While all such satellites can be referred to as "small", different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass. Satellites can be built small to reduce the large economic cost of launch vehicles and the costs associated with construction. Miniature satellites, especially in large numbers, may be more useful than fewer, larger ones for some purposes – for example, gathering of scientific data and radio relay. Technical challenges in the construction of small satellites may include the lack of sufficient power storage or of room for a propulsion system.

RationalesEdit

Group name<ref name=brycesmall/> Mass (kg)
Extra Heavy satellite > 7,000
Heavy satellite 5,001 to 7,000
Large satellite 4,201 to 5,000
Intermediate satellite 2,501 to 4,200
Medium satellite 1,201 to 2,500
Small satellite 601 to 1,200
Mini satellite 201 to 600
Micro satellite 11 to 200
Nano satellite 1.1 to 10
Pico satellite 0.1 to 1
Femto satellite <0.1

One rationale for miniaturizing satellites is to reduce the cost; heavier satellites require larger rockets with greater thrust that also have greater cost to finance. In contrast, smaller and lighter satellites require smaller and cheaper launch vehicles and can sometimes be launched in multiples. They can also be launched 'piggyback', using excess capacity on larger launch vehicles. Miniaturized satellites allow for cheaper designs and ease of mass production.

Another major reason for developing small satellites is the opportunity to enable missions that a larger satellite could not accomplish, such as:

  • Constellations for low data rate communications
  • Using formations to gather data from multiple points
  • In-orbit inspection of larger satellites
  • University-related research
  • Testing or qualifying new hardware before using it on a more expensive spacecraft

HistoryEdit

The nanosatellite and microsatellite segments of the satellite launch industry have been growing rapidly in the 2010s. Development activity in the Template:Convert range has been significantly exceeding that in the Template:Convert range.<ref name=swma2014/>

In the Template:Nowrap range alone, fewer than 15 satellites were launched annually in 2000 to 2005, 34 in 2006, then fewer than 30 launches annually during 2007 to 2011. This rose to 34 launched in 2012 and 92 launched in 2013.<ref name=swma2014>Template:Cite report</ref>

European analyst Euroconsult projects more than 500 smallsats being launched in 2015–2019 with a market value estimated at Template:USD.<ref name=pa20150302/>

By mid-2015, many more launch options had become available for smallsats, and rides as secondary payloads had become both greater in quantity and easier to schedule on shorter notice.<ref name=sn20150612>Template:Cite news</ref>

In a surprising turn of events, the U.S. Department of Defense, which had for decades procured heavy satellites on decade-long procurement cycles, is making a transition to smallsats in the 2020s. The office of space acquisition and integration said in January 2023 that "the era of massive satellites needs to be in the rear view mirror for the Department of Defense"<ref name=sn20230124/> with small satellites being procured for DoD needs in all orbital regimes, regardless of "whether it's LEO MEO or GEO" while aiming for procurements in under three years.<ref name=sn20230124/> The smaller satellites are deemed to be harder for an enemy to target, as well as providing more resilience through redundancy in the design of a large distributed network of satellite assets.<ref name=sn20230124>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2021, the first autonomous nanosatellites, part of the Adelis-SAMSON mission, designed and developed by the Technion and Rafael in Israel were launched into space.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2023, SpaceX launched a 20cm quantum communication nano satellite developed by the Tel Aviv University, it is the world's first quantum communication satellite.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> TAU's nanosatellite is designed to form a quantum communication network as well as communicate with Earth through an optical ground station.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Classification groupsEdit

File:Space Technology 5 on payload structure.jpg
Three microsatellites of Space Technology 5

Small satellitesEdit

The term "small satellite",<ref name=swma2014/> or sometimes "minisatellite", often refers to an artificial satellite with a wet mass (including fuel) between Template:Convert,<ref name=did20120630/><ref name=tristancho2010/> but in other usage has come to mean any satellite under Template:Convert.<ref name=pa20150302>Template:Cite news</ref>

Small satellite examplesTemplate:According to whom include Demeter, Essaim, Parasol, Picard, MICROSCOPE, TARANIS, ELISA, SSOT, SMART-1, Spirale-A and -B, and Starlink satellites.Template:Citation needed

Small satellite launch vehicleEdit

Although smallsats have traditionally been launched as secondary payloads on larger launch vehicles, a number of companies began development of launch vehicles specifically targeted at the smallsat market. In particular, with larger numbers of smallsats flying, the secondary payload paradigm does not provide the specificity required for many small satellites that have unique orbital and launch-timing requirements.<ref name=sn20130812/>

Some USA-based private companies that at some point in time have launched smallsat launch vehicles commercially:

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MicrosatellitesEdit

The term "microsatellite" or "microsat" is usually applied to the name of an artificial satellite with a wet mass between Template:Convert.<ref name=swma2014/><ref name=did20120630>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=tristancho2010/> However, this is not an official convention and sometimes those terms can refer to satellites larger than that, or smaller than that (e.g., Template:Convert).<ref name=swma2014/> Sometimes, designs or proposed designs from some satellites of these types have microsatellites working together or in a formation.<ref name=nbc20150604>Template:Cite news</ref> The generic term "small satellite" or "smallsat" is also sometimes used,<ref name=nsj20120711/> as is "satlet".<ref name=sn20140321>Template:Cite news</ref>

Examples: Astrid-1 and Astrid-2,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> as well as the set of satellites currently announced for LauncherOne (below)<ref name=nsj20120711/>

In 2018, the two Mars Cube One microsats—massing just Template:Cvt each—became the first CubeSats to leave Earth orbit for use in interplanetary space. They flew on their way to Mars alongside the successful Mars InSight lander mission.<ref name=nyt2019318>Template:Cite news</ref> The two microsats accomplished a flyby of Mars in November 2018, and both continued communicating with ground stations on Earth through late December. Both went silent by early January 2019.<ref name=jpl20190204>Template:Cite news</ref>

Microsatellite launch vehicleEdit

A number of commercial and military-contractor companies are currently developing microsatellite launch vehicles to perform the increasingly targeted launch requirements of microsatellites. While microsatellites have been carried to space for many years as secondary payloads aboard larger launchers, the secondary payload paradigm does not provide the specificity required for many increasingly sophisticated small satellites that have unique orbital and launch-timing requirements.<ref name=sn20130812>Template:Cite news</ref>

In July 2012, Virgin Orbit announced LauncherOne, an orbital launch vehicle designed to launch "smallsat" primary payloads of Template:Convert into low Earth orbit, with launches projected to begin in 2016. Several commercial customers have already contracted for launches, including GeoOptics, Skybox Imaging, Spaceflight Industries, and Planetary Resources. Both Surrey Satellite Technology and Sierra Nevada Space Systems are developing satellite buses "optimized to the design of LauncherOne".<ref name=nsj20120711>Template:Cite news</ref> Virgin Orbit has been working on the LauncherOne concept since late 2008,<ref name=fgh20081209>EXCLUSIVE: Virgin Galactic unveils LauncherOne name! Template:Webarchive, Rob Coppinger, Flightglobal Hyperbola, 9 December 2008</ref> and Template:Asof, is making it a larger part of Virgin's core business plan as the Virgin human spaceflight program has experienced multiple delays and a fatal accident in 2014.<ref name=telegraph20150822>Template:Cite news</ref>

In December 2012, DARPA announced that the Airborne Launch Assist Space Access program would provide the microsatellite rocket booster for the DARPA SeeMe program that intended to release a "constellation of 24 micro-satellites (~Template:Convert range) each with 1-m imaging resolution."<ref name=nsw20121219>Template:Cite news</ref> The program was cancelled in December 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In April 2013, Garvey Spacecraft was awarded a Template:US$ contract to evolve their Prospector 18 suborbital launch vehicle technology into an orbital nanosat launch vehicle capable of delivering a Template:Convert payload into a Template:Convert orbit to an even-more-capable clustered "20/450 Nano/Micro Satellite Launch Vehicle" (NMSLV) capable of delivering Template:Convert payloads into Template:Convert circular orbits.<ref name=pa20130404/>

The Boeing Small Launch Vehicle is an air-launched three-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle concept aimed to launch small payloads of Template:Convert into low Earth orbit. The program is proposed to drive down launch costs for U.S. military small satellites to as low as Template:US$ per launch ($7,000/kg) and, if the development program was funded, Template:Asof could be operational by 2020.<ref name=aw20120521>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Swiss company Swiss Space Systems (S3) has announced plans in 2013 to develop a suborbital spaceplane named SOAR that would launch a microsat launch vehicle capable of putting a payload of up to Template:Convert into low Earth orbit.<ref name=dp20131008>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Spanish company PLD Space born in 2011 with the objective of developing low cost launch vehicles called Miura 1 and Miura 5 with the capacity to place up to Template:Convert into orbit.<ref name="yahoo">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

NanosatellitesEdit

File:Nanosatellites yearly launches.svg
Launched nanosatellites as of December 2023<ref name="nanosats" />

The term "nanosatellite" or "nanosat" is applied to an artificial satellite with a wet mass between Template:Convert.<ref name=swma2014/><ref name=did20120630/><ref name=tristancho2010/> Designs and proposed designs of these types may be launched individually, or they may have multiple nanosatellites working together or in formation, in which case, sometimes the term "satellite swarm"<ref name=verhoeven2011>Template:Cite journal</ref> or "fractionated spacecraft" may be applied. Some designs require a larger "mother" satellite for communication with ground controllers or for launching and docking with nanosatellites. Over 2300 nanosatellites have been launched as of December 2023.<ref name="database">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="nanosats">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

A CubeSat<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> is a common type of nanosatellite,<ref name="nanosats"/> built in cube form based on multiples of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm, with a mass of no more than Template:Convert per unit.<ref name=DesignSpecs>Template:Cite report</ref> The CubeSat concept was first developed in 1999 by a collaborative team of California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University, and the specifications, for use by anyone planning to launch a CubeSat-style nanosatellite, are maintained by this group.<ref name=DesignSpecs/>

With continued advances in the miniaturization and capability increase of electronic technology and the use of satellite constellations, nanosatellites are increasingly capable of performing commercial missions that previously required microsatellites.<ref name=tsitas2012/> For example, a 6U CubeSat standard has been proposed to enable a satellite constellation of thirty five Template:Convert Earth-imaging satellites to replace a constellation of five Template:Convert RapidEye Earth-imaging satellites, at the same mission cost, with significantly increased revisit times: every area of the globe can be imaged every 3.5 hours rather than the once per 24 hours with the RapidEye constellation. More rapid revisit times are a significant improvement for nations performing disaster response, which was the purpose of the RapidEye constellation. Additionally, the nanosat option would allow more nations to own their own satellite for off-peak (non-disaster) imaging data collection.<ref name=tsitas2012>Template:Cite journal</ref> As costs lower and production times shorten, nanosatellites are becoming increasingly feasible ventures for companies.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Some examples of nanosatellites are the ExoCube (CP-10), ArduSat, and SPROUT.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Nanosatellite developers and manufacturers include EnduroSat, GomSpace, NanoAvionics, NanoSpace, Spire,<ref name=gaurd15>Template:Cite news</ref> Surrey Satellite Technology,<ref name=economist20140607/> NovaWurks,<ref name=pa20131011>Template:Cite news</ref> Dauria Aerospace,<ref name=vb20131009>Template:Cite news</ref> Planet Labs<ref name="economist20140607" /> and Reaktor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Nanosat marketEdit

In the ten years of nanosat launches prior to 2014, only 75 nanosats were launched.<ref name="nanosats" /> Launch rates picked up substantially when in the three-month period from November 2013–January 2014 94 nanosats were launched.<ref name=economist20140607>Template:Cite news</ref>

One challenge of using nanosats has been the economic delivery of such small satellites to anywhere beyond low Earth orbit. By late 2014, proposals were being developed for larger spacecraft specifically designed to deliver swarms of nanosats to trajectories that are beyond Earth orbit for applications such as exploring distant asteroids.<ref name=wired20141217>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Nanosatellite launch vehicleEdit

With the emergence of the technological advances of miniaturization and increased capital to support private spaceflight initiatives in the 2010s, several startups have been formed to pursue opportunities with developing a variety of small-payload Nanosatellite Launch Vehicle (NLV) technologies.

NLVs proposed or under development include:

Actual NS launches:

  • NASA launched three satellites on 21 April 2013 based on smart phones. Two phones use the PhoneSat 1.0 specification and the third used a beta version of PhoneSat 2.0<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • ISRO launched 14 nanosatellites on 22 June 2016, 2 for Indian universities and 12 for the United States under the Flock-2P program. This launch was performed during the PSLV-C34 mission.
  • ISRO launched 103 nanosatellites on 15 February 2017. This launch was performed during the PSLV-C37 mission.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

PicosatellitesEdit

The term "picosatellite" or "picosat" (not to be confused with the PicoSAT series of microsatellites) is usually applied to artificial satellites with a wet mass between Template:Convert,<ref name=did20120630/><ref name=tristancho2010/> although it is sometimes used to refer to any satellite that is under 1 kg in launch mass.<ref name=swma2014/> Again, designs and proposed designs of these types usually have multiple picosatellites working together or in formation (sometimes the term "swarm" is applied). Some designs require a larger "mother" satellite for communication with ground controllers or for launching and docking with picosatellites.

Picosatellites are emerging as a new alternative for do-it-yourself kitbuilders. Picosatellites are currently commercially available across the full range of Template:Convert. Launch opportunities are now available for $12,000 to $18,000 for sub-1 kg picosat payloads that are approximately the size of a soda can.<ref name=kk20121212>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

FemtosatellitesEdit

The term "femtosatellite" or "femtosat" is usually applied to artificial satellites with a wet mass below Template:Convert.<ref name=swma2014/><ref name=did20120630/><ref name=tristancho2010>Template:Cite journal</ref> Like picosatellites, some designs require a larger "mother" satellite for communication with ground controllers.

Three prototype "chip satellites" were launched to the ISS on Template:OV on its final mission in May 2011. They were attached to the ISS external platform Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-8) for testing.<ref name=cc20110426>Template:Cite news</ref> In April 2014, the nanosatellite KickSat was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket with the intention of releasing 104 femtosatellite-sized chipsats, or "Sprites".<ref name="sfn20140413">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="esa-kicksat">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the event, they were unable to complete the deployment on time due to a failure of an onboard clock and the deployment mechanism reentered the atmosphere on 14 May 2014, without having deployed any of the Template:Nowrap femtosats.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> ThumbSat is another project intending to launch femtosatellites in the late 2010s.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> ThumbSat announced a launch agreement with CubeCat in 2017 to launch up to 1000 of the very small satellites.<ref>https://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2017/07/24/SF48269</ref>Template:Update inline

In March 2019, the CubeSat KickSat-2 deployed 105 femtosats called "ChipSats" into Earth orbit. Each of the ChipSats weighed 4 grams. The satellites were tested for 3 days, and they then reentered the atmosphere and burned up.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=stanford20190603>Template:Cite news</ref>

Technical challengesEdit

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} }} Small satellites usually require innovative propulsion, attitude control, communication and computation systems.

Larger satellites usually use monopropellants or bipropellant combustion systems for propulsion and attitude control; these systems are complex and require a minimal amount of volume to surface area to dissipate heat. These systems may be used on larger small satellites, while other micro/nanosats have to use electric propulsion, compressed gas, vaporizable liquids such as butane or carbon dioxide or other innovative propulsion systems that are simple, cheap and scalable.

Small satellites can use conventional radio systems in UHF, VHF, S-band and X-band, although often miniaturized using more up-to-date technology as compared to larger satellites. Tiny satellites such as nanosats and small microsats may lack the power supply or mass for large conventional radio transponders, and various miniaturized or innovative communications systems have been proposed, such as laser receivers, antenna arrays and satellite-to-satellite communication networks. Few of these have been demonstrated in practice.

Electronics need to be rigorously tested and modified to be "space hardened" or resistant to the outer space environment (vacuum, microgravity, thermal extremes, and radiation exposure). Miniaturized satellites allow for the opportunity to test new hardware with reduced expense in testing. Furthermore, since the overall cost risk in the mission is much lower, more up-to-date but less space-proven technology can be incorporated into micro and nanosats than can be used in much larger, more expensive missions with less appetite for risk.

Collision safetyEdit

Small satellites are difficult to track with ground-based radar, so it is difficult to predict if they will collide with other satellites or human-occupied spacecraft. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has rejected at least one small satellite launch request on these safety grounds.<ref name="gizmodo20180309">Template:Cite news</ref>

See alsoEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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