CubeSat Tables of the Nanosatellite Database

NewSpace Index (newspace.im) also includes microsatellites and smallsats

Notable Upcoming CubeSat Missions

Mission	Destination	Launch	Summary
CPOD	LEO	2018	Docking with 3U nanosatellites. Will demonstrate precision flying around each other and then docking. Will enable to explore asteroids, moons and to inspect other spacecraft.
INSPIRE	Earth escape	2018	Goal of two 3U INSPIRE spacecraft is to open deep space to CubeSats and demonstrate necessary functions like telecommunication and navigation. Will be the first interplanetary and deep space CubeSat.
RSat (Repair CubeSat)	LEO	2018	Two 7 DoF robotic arms fitted with manipulators to enable inspection and servicing. Operates with BRICSat that provides propulsion and attitude control. Magnetic docking system will include power and data pass-through. Part of AMODS (Autonomous Mobile On-orbit Diagnostic System).
CAPE-MIRCA	LEO	2018	Micro return capsule is the first planetary atmosphere entry probe flight prototype to measure density, temperature and composition. GAMASAT also has re-entry capsule and will launch in 2016 with QB50, but not sure if and how capsule will be released.
Mars Cube One (MarCO)	Mars flyby	2018	Two 6U deep space CubeSats were planned to be launched in 2016, but delayed due to InSight Mars lander. They will flyby Mars during the landing of InSight and relay status in real time, which is not possible today.
NEA Scout	Asteroid flyby	2020	First CubeSat to reach an asteroid and map it using an ~80 m² solar sail for propulsion. One of 13 6U CubeSats that will launch with a new NASA SLS rocket in 2018 which will send Orion capsule on a trip around the Moon.
Lunar Flashlight	Moon orbit	2020	First CubeSat to reach the Moon and the first to use lasers to look for water ice. Near infrared lasers will shine light into the shaded polar regions, while the spectrometer measures surface reflection and composition. One of 13 6U SLS CubeSats.
OMOTENASHI	Moon orbit, Moon surface	2020	Will release a 1 kg lunar lander with inflatable airbags to demonstrate technology for low-cost and very small spacecraft to explore the lunar surface and will measure the radiation environment. One of 13 6U SLS CubeSats.
SWIMSat	GEO	2021	6U CubeSat to monitor solar Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and monitor Earth meteor impacts. Might be the first CubeSat to geostationary (GEO) orbit, but too early to know for sure.
M-ARGO	50-m asteroid	2022	12U CubeSat from ESA to rendezvous with a small rapidly spinning asteroid and spend around six months surveying with multispectral imager and laser altimeter.
DARCSIDE	Europa, Jupiter moon	2025	3U CubeSat flying with Europa Clipper spacecraft to study Europa's atmosphere. Experiments are planned to be drag measurement and high energy particle detector.

Last update: 2018-03-31 | Changelog

CubeSat Commercial Constellations and Investments

Organization	Launched / Planned size	First launch	Form factor	Field	Funding	Technical and comments
Planet	324 / 150+	2013	3U	Earth observation	$183 million	29 MP sensor taking images with 3.7 m ground resolution and swath of 24.6 km × 16.4 km from 475 km altitude.
Spire	85 / 150+	2013	3U	Weather / AIS / ADS-B	$149.5 million	Measure change in GPS signal after passing atmosphere to calculate precise profiles for temperature, pressure, humidity.
Planetary Resources	2 / 10	2014	12U	Earth observation	$50+ million	Visible-NIR 40 channel hyperspectral imager with 10 m resolution. Midwave infrared imager (MWIR) in 3-5 μm with 15 m resolution. Has been deprioritized for asteroid missions.
Astro Digital (Aquila)	5 / 10+20	2014	6U / 16U	Earth observation	$16.7+ million	6U has 22 m resolution in RGB and NIR. 16U has 2.5 m resolution in RGB, red edge, and NIR using one 70 MP sensor.
Sky and Space Global	3 / 200	2017	3U	IoT / M2M / Voice	$11.5 million	Plans to use inter-satellite links. Satellites outsourced from GomSpace.
GeoOptics	5 / ?	2017	6U	Weather	$5.15 million	Satellites outsourced from Tyvak.
Kepler Communications	1 / 140	2018	3U	IoT / M2M	$5 million	Monthly fee based on the data amount. Hope to achieve rates of 1-40 Mbps. Clyde Space will provide at least the first 2 sats.
Analytical Space	1 / ?	2018	6U	Optical relay / IoT / M2M	$4 million	In-orbit relays receiving radio and downlink to ground with laser communication enabling more data downlink from satellites.
PlanetiQ	0 / 18	2018	6U	Weather	$5+ million	Based on GPS radio occultation. Will have microwave spectrometer & radiometer. Blue Canyon Tech builds satellites.
Hiber (Magnitude Space)	0 / 48	2018	6U	IoT / M2M	$4.1 million	Send small packets of data (140 characters, accompanied by time‐stamp, identifier and location).
Capella Space	0 / 40	2018	12U	SAR	$12+ million	Resolutions from 1 m (1600 km²) to 30 m (27,000 km²). Every 3-6 hours globally and 45 min in equatorial regions, improving to every hour in 3-5 years.
Astrocast (ELSE)	0 / 64	2018	3U	IoT / M2M	$7.1 million	Demonstration mission in 2018. Targeting L-band. Inter-satellite links. NanoSpace propulsion.
Lacuna Space	0 / 32	2018	6U	IoT / M2M	Yes
Blink Astro	0 / ?	2018	3U	IoT / M2M	?	Blink Astro and NanoAvionics have signed an agreement to fly a tech demo payload to LEO in fall 2018.
Fleet Space	0 / 100	2018	12U	IoT / M2M	$3.7 million	Selected Saber Astronautics as the operations provider. Launches planned to be started in 2017.
Reaktor Space	0 / 36	2018	6U	Earth observation / Hyperspectral	?	Hyperspectral constellation for smart agriculture with 100's of spectral bands and 20 m resolution.
SatRevolution	0 / 66	2018	2U	Earth observation	$0.8 million	Imaging the Earth in 4m resolution through the use of an innovative lens.
AISTech	0 / 100	2018	2U / 6U	IoT / M2M / ADS-B / AIS / IR imaging	$0.31 million	2-way comms, thermal imaging to detect forest fires, aviation tracking (ADS-B). Satellites will be built by GomSpace.
Helios Wire	0 / 30	2018	16U	IoT / M2M	$5 million	Uses 30 MHz of S-band spectrum to receive tiny data packages from billions sensors. First satellites assembled by Astro Digital.
Karten Space	0 / 14	2018	6U	Earth observation / AIS	?	Optical resolution is 3-5 m.
UnSeenLabs	0 / ?	2018	6U	RF spectrum monitoring	?	Satellites outsourced from GomSpace.
NSLComm (SkyFi)	0 / 60	2018	6U	Internet	$9.25+ million	Up to 1 Gbps anywhere in the world with a novel antenna.
Orbital Micro Systems	0 / 40	2018	3U	Weather	$0.65 million	Utilizes microwave technology to capture temperature and moisture measurements, refreshed and delivered every 15 minutes.
Aerial & Maritime (partially GomSpace)	0 / ?	2019	3U?	AIS / ADS-B	$12.2 million	Monitoring aircraft (ADS-B) and vessels (AIS) from 37°N to 37°S. GomSpace will develop satellites. Cooperation with Flightradar24.
Hera Systems	0 / 48	2019	12U	Earth observation	$4.2+ million	Capable of 1-meter resolution with 22-kilogram form factor.
SRT Marine	0 / 6+	2019	6U	AIS	?	Scanning technology will enable the detection of vessels without an identification transceiver. Clyde Space will build the spacecraft.
Rupercorp	0 / ?	2019	6U	Earth observation	?	2U CubeSat to be launched in 2018 will be a precursor for the commercial constellation based on NanoAvionics M6P with “green” chemical propulsion system.
Harris	0 / 12	2019	6U	Weather	?	Immediate access to 3D wind data sets from Harris-owned HyperCubes. Utah State University provides the spacecraft.
Transcelestial	0 / ?	2019	?	Optical relay / comms	Seed	Space data network for terrestrial and satellite applications. Using lasers to transfer data at up to 1000x faster than currently available.
Bluefield	0 / 22	2019	16U	Methane emissions	Yes	20x20 m pixel resolution and 100ppm-m methane level (detecting natural gas storage and pipeline leaks, fracking, industries, mining, permafrost, wastewater, rice paddies, livestock, etc.)
Myriota	0 / ?	?	?	IoT / M2M	$15+ million
OQ Technology	0 / ?	?	?	IoT / M2M		World's first universal plug & play IoT device that can provide connectivity leveraging Low-Earth-Orbit satellite infrastructure
Tekever	0 / 12	?	16U	Earth observation / SAR / AIS / ADS-B / IoT	?	Constellation will carry the same observation and telecom payloads as Infante, but with different payloads on different satellites.
Alba Orbital	0 / ?	?	PocketQube	Earth observation	?	First PocketQube constellation.
Koolock	0 / ?	?	?	IR imaging	?	The Most Advanced Feature Set For Weather and Environmental Monitoring.
Earthcube	0 / 10	Cancel?	?	IR imaging	$4.5+ million	Might use Exotrail thrusters.
Terran Orbital (Tyvak)	0 / ?	Cancel?	?	IoT / M2M	Yes	Building a constellation of best-in-class nanosatellites that will form an unprecedented data infrastructure in space.
ISIS / Innovative Data Services	0 / 16	Cancel?	3U	AIS	?	AIS payload tested on Triton-1 and network planned for a while, but no recent news. ADS-B, M2M and asset tracking also considered.
Promethean Labs	0 / ?	Cancel?	?	Gas emissions	?	Special imager for measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, monitoring of water and air quality, forestry and land.

Last update: 2018-05-24 | Changelog

State-of-the-art CubeSat Technologies

Complimentary reading: NASA Small Spacecraft Technology State of the Art (online version) and Achieving Science with CubeSats reports.

Technology	Organization	Summary	Status and additional information
Communications	Planet	120+ Mbit/s to 5 m ground station in X band with patch antenna.	62.5 Mbit/s proof from 2015. 2 GB per pass was common. Much faster now as told privately and hints about a new antenna. X-band in orbit since spring 2013.
	NASA	Mars Cube One (MarCO) reflectarray capable of 8 Kbit/s from Mars in X-band. Three 33.3 cm x 19.9 cm panels achieve >28 dB gain at 8.4 GHz.	Ready. Was supposed to launch in spring 2016, but delayed to 2018 due to InSight Mars lander.
	NASA	KaPDA parabolic deployable Ka-band antenna with 0.5 m diameter, 1.5U stowed size, 1.2 kg mass and 42.5 dB gain.	Scheduled to launch in 2017 onboard 6U RainCube. Many versions built and tested. It is the first 35.75 GHz Ka-band radar payload on a CubeSat.
	NASA	Iris V2 Transponder. Parameters include 0.5U, 1.2 kg and interoperability with Deep Space Network (DSN) at X-band.	Scheduled for 2018. Has radiation tolerant parts for years long missions and thermal management for hours long navigation tracking sessions.
	Astro Digital (Aquila)	40 Mbit/s in 26.8 GHz Ka-band with patch antenna on Perseus-M 6U CubeSats. Module is about 1U and 1 kg.	Launched in 2014. Were first Ka band transmitters on a nanosatellite. Upgrade is about 1.5U and 1.5 kg and achieves 200+ Mbps downlink.
	Aerospace	1.5U AeroCube-7 (OCSD) will do optical communications with data rates up to 622 Mbps using 80 cm ground station.	OCSD A was launched in 2015, but attitude control problems prevented testing laser communications. OCSD B and OCSD C will launch in 2016.
	Syrlinks	EWC27 X Band transmitter. Up to 100 Mbps. Up to 13.3 GB per pass can be downloaded on a 5 m station or 5.8 GB with a 3.4 m station.	Flown on GOMX-3 in 2015 and will fly on EYE-SAT, OPS-SAT etc.
	QuickSAT (Globalstar)	Using GlobalStar satellite network for 24/7 communications. Module is only 44 × 88 mm, weighs 25 g and consumes 200 mW with 500 mW peak.	Flown on TSAT, GEARSS 1, GEARRS 2 and planned for many more.
	Tendeg	1 m apeture, scalable to 2-4 m. 50 dB gain at 36 GHz, 2.5 kg, 3U.	Exclusive licensee of NASA JPL’s KaPDA Ka-Band antenna. KaTENna flight in 2018.
Power	Planet	3+3 3U deployable solar panels	In orbit since 2013, were updated with new solar cells in 2015.
	MMA Design	HaWK steerable 3 × 3U solar arrays capable of tracking Sun and 36W peak power. Might use Honeybee SADA drive actuator.	First launch scheduled for 2016. Will launch also to Moon on BioSentinel in 2018 and to Mars on MarCO.
	NASA	ISARA has solar cells opposite the reflectarray. 3 × 3U panels achieve 33 dB of gain at 26 GHz and data rates about 100 Mbps.	Now scheduled for 2016. Plan to make it commercially available with Pumpkin, adapted from its "Turkey Tail" standard design.
Compact Satellite Bus	Planet	Bus is a wrap-around design of about 0.25U - 0.5U total volume. Includes star camera, GPS, 4 reaction wheels.	Also includes 3 magnetorquers, UHF transceiver, X-band transmitter, S-band receiver, low-power x86 processor and 0.5 TB of storage.
Compact Satellite Bus	Tyvak	Intrepid platform avionics, power system, communication, and payload interface are all hosted in a 9 × 9 × 3 cm package.	400 MHz ARM processor, 512 MB storage, 64 MB RAM, embedded Linux, integrated power regulation system, sensor suite, low profile UHF radio.
Propulsion	NASA	Solar sail with an area of ~86 m² that fits into 2U and has 2.5 kg mass.	First launch in 2018 on NEA Scout to provide delta-V of at least 400 m/s.
	Busek	BIT-3 propulsion sized 2.5U includes 1.5 kg solid iodine propellant and will provide 6U CubeSat up to 3 km/s of delta-V.	Scheduled to fly aboard Lunar IceCube 6U CubeSat to Moon in 2018.
	Phase Four	CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT) sized 4U could provide 8 km/s of delta-V for 6 kg dry mass satellite consuming 2.56 kg of water.	$1 million contract from DARPA to deliver TRL 7 engine. Will fly on Astro Digital Landmapper satellite in late 2017.
	Deep Space Industries	Comet-1 thrusters are simple, safe, and cost-effective electrothermal propulsion systems that use water as propellant.	As of Q3 2016, six flight units have been ordered for Q3 2017 delivery.
	VACCO	Variety of high-performance cold gas, warm gas and green monopropellant thrusters. More than 14 flight MiPS have been produced.	VACCO developed modules will fly on MarCO to Mars in 2018 and on C-POD rendezvous mission.
Booms	Oxford Space Systems	AstroTube retractable boom with up to 3 m length and less than 0.5U size.	Validated in orbit in 2016. Solar sails also have booms that can be longer.

Last update: 2017-07-28 | Changelog

CubeSat Instruments

Last update: 2017-03-19 | Changelog

Good overview of CubeSat instruments and technology progress by Anthony Freeman from 2016
Planetary Decadal Science Mapping and Nanosat-Compatible Instrument Availability by Caltech from 2016

Technology	Some applications	Organization or instrument	Description	Status and additional information
Visible and near-IR cameras	Determine asteroid’s shape, rotational properties, spectral class, local dust and debris field, regional morphology and regolith properties.	Planet Scope PS2	29 MP detector capable of taking images with 3.7 m ground resolution and swath of 24.6 km × 16.4 km from 475 km altitude.	4 Band imager with Two-Stripe NIR filter. Can be a single RGB or a split-frame (RGB half and a NIR half).
		Hera Systems	1-meter resolution imaging satellite is built on a 12U cubesat, 22-kilogram form factor.	First launch of 9 12U CubeSats in late 2016 or early 2017.
		Astro Digital (Aquila)	6U has 22 m resolution in RGB and NIR. 16U has 2.5 m resolution in RGB, red edge, and NIR using 70 MP sensor and butcher block filter.	First satellites now planned to launch in late 2016.
		Malin Space Systems	ECAM C-50 imager uses the Aptina MT9P031 sensor certified for deep space. 5 MP (2592 x 1944) CMOS.	NEA Scout 6U planned to have monochrome with narrow FOV optics. Malin cameras on Curiosity, Juno etc.
		JPL IntelliCam	20 MP, 15 deg FOV. 10 cm/pix at ~800 m. Asteroid (~5-12 m) detection from ~50K km. Science and optical (autonomous) naviation.	Flight on NEA Scout. Based on Mars 2020 rover EECAM and OCO-3.
		SATLANTIS iSIM 90	Imager for 12U/16U with up to 1.1 m GSD @ 500 km altitude and 11 km swath width. Dimensions 210 x 250 x 155 mm.	€2.35M investment and €2.35M H2020 project.
Microwave radars	Precipitation profiling	NASA KaPDA Ka-band antenna	KaPDA parabolic deployable Ka-band antenna with 0.5 m diameter, 1.5U stowed size, 1.2 kg mass and 42.5 dB gain.	Scheduled to launch in 2017 onboard 6U RainCube. First 35.75 GHz Ka-band radar payload on a CubeSat.
Radiometers	Greenhouse gases measurement Atmosphere humidty and temperature profiling	Boulder (BEST) 150 and 183 GHz Radiometers	150 GHz radiometer has 2 channels between the 118 GHz oxygen absorption line and the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line.	Consumes less than 1 W of power and its weight is about 100 grams.
Radiometers		NASA Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (Mini-LHR)	4U occultation-viewing passive radiometer that measures methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O) in the limb.
Infrared imagers	Characterize volatiles and minerals. Measure temp and water vapor in atmosphere. Night-imaging, temperature mapping.	NASA BIRCHES	1.5U, 2.5 kg, 5 W. Spectral resolution (5 nm) to characterize volatiles (water etc) and minerals (oxides etc). Micro-crycooler to keep <140 K.	Will fly on Lunar IceCube in 2018. Compact version of the volatile-seeking spectrometer on New Horizons.
		Thoth Argus 1000	Infrared Range: 1000 nm - 1700 nm. Spectral resolution: 6 nm. 15 mm aperture, 0.15° FoV. Envelope: 45 × 50 × 80 mm. Mass < 230 g.	First flown in space in 2008.
		MWIR Grating Spectrometer (CIRAS)	Spatial: 13.5 × 0.32 km. Spectral: 4.8-5.1 μm. 625 Channels. HOT-BIRD detectors comparable to HgCdTe at much reduced cost.	Will fly on 6U CubeSat also called CIRAS in 2018. Cryocooler by Lockheed Martin is smallest available.
		Planetary Resources MWIR	Midwave infrared imager (MWIR) in 3-5 μm with 15 m ground resolution.	Will launch on Arkyd-100.
Hyperspectral imagers / spectrometers	Material detection, crop identification, soil moisture, oil spill concentrations, monitoring pollutatns, hazardous gases.	Harris Fourier Spectrometer (CubeSat-FTS)	4 cm aperture, MWIR band only (5.7-8.3 um). Cooled to ~120K using an AVHRR-based passive cooler. Hundreds of hyperspectral bands.	Flight in 2019. More affordable and efficient 3D wind data sets. Utah State University provides spacecraft.
		Planetary Resources VNIR	Visible-NIR 40 channel hyperspectral imager with 10 m resolution.	Will launch on Arkyd-100.
		Planetary Resources CHAP	Visible, NIR, IR and far-UV (90-140 nm) possible, 400 channels. Co-registration of spatial and spectral information.	NASA SBIR Phase II contract.
		VTT VISION	Tunable spectral imager operating in the visible and near-infrared spectra (430 – 800 nm) for ozone vertical profile measurement.	Based on VTT Fabry-Perot Interferometer technology and Aalto-1 spectral imager.
		ESA Mini-TMA	90 m ground resolution, 565 km swath, 400-800 nm range, 300 channels, 15 nm spectral resolution, 150 g, 60 × 50 × 30 mm.	Miniaturisation of Proba V design. Prototype engineering model was built by Dutch company VDL ETG.
		Snow and Water Imaging Spectrometer (SWIS)	4U, 1.9 kg, 350-1700 nm region with 5.7 nm sampling, 10 deg FoV, 160 m resolution from 500 km.	Mission not yet planned, but development well underway with testing in early 2017.
Neutron spectrometers	Map hydrogen (and water) abundances	NASA Mini-NS (Neutron Spectrometer)	2.5U detector using Cs2YLiCl6:Ce (CLYC) scintillator material to detect epithermal neutrons at spatial scales below 10 km.	Flight in 2018 on LunaH-Map to understand the relationship between hydrogen and permanently shadowed regions.
X-ray	Chemical composition	Amptek X-123SDD	7 × 10 × 2.5 cm, 180 g, 2.5 Watts, solar SXR spectral measurements in the 0.5-30 keV range (0.04-2.5 nm) with 0.15 keV energy resolution.	Flew on MinXSS 3U CubeSat. Planned for 6U CubIXSS plus X123-CdTe. XR-100SDD flies on OSIRIS-REx.
		REDLEN M1770	Precise measurement of the cosmic (diffuse) X-ray background in the 20 – 50 KeV range.	Will launch on CXBN-2.
		Lobster Eye X‐ray telescope	Wide‐field optical system for X‐ray monitoring in range 3 ‐ 40 keV, based on Lobster Eye optics and Timepix detector	Will launch on 2U VZLUSAT-1 with QB50.
Mass spectrometer	Elemental composition	Quadrupole Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (QIT-MS)	2.5 kg, 2U, isotopic accuracy <1%.	Leverages foldable edge-connected electronics.
Gamma ray spectrometer	Sub-surface composition	Miniaturized SrI2 Gamma Ray Spectrometer	1U, 0.5 kg, 3 W. Europium-doped strontium iodide (SrI2) crystal is 15 × 15 × 10 mm.	Elemental composition with CubeSats and small landers. Prototype development in early phase.

Advanced CubeSat Concepts

Last update: 2016-11-13

Many future space science mission concepts in Keck Institute Final Report from 2014.

Field	Technology or concept	Summary
Communications	Structureless antenna	Under funding from DARPA, Tethers Unlimited is developing technology that will enable new capabilities for small, low-power nanosatellites such as transmission of real-time video from GEO.
Communications	Inflatable antennas	NASA JPL is leading the development of inflatable X-band antenna with 34 dBi gain, 0.5U stowage volume that uses sublimating powder and is highly scalable. Arizona State University is also involved.
Optics	6U Collapsible Telescope	NASA Ames 6U Collapsible Telescope primary mirror diameter is 152.6 mm (6 inches). Fits into 13.8 cm × 20.3 cm × 7 cm.
	3U Folded Telescope	UK Astronomy Technology Centre solution estimated resolution from 300 km altitude is about 0.5 m per pixel with a 3U CubeSat. Volume of the folded system is 1.5U.
	3U Deployable Telescope	Utah State University solution ground sampling distance is 1.3 m. The rectangular full field of view is 0.7° by 0.5° giving a ground coverage of 6.1 km by 4.6 km from a 500 km altitude with a 3U CubeSat. Fits within a 2.5U volume, but length can be reduced to 175 mm.
	Carbon-nanotube mirrors with integrated actuators	Made of carbon nanotubes embedded in an epoxy resin. Lightweight, highly stable, easily reproducible and do not require polishing. Just pour the mixture of epoxy and carbon nanotubes into a mandrel or mold and let it cure and harden.
SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar)	12U Ka-Band CubesatSAR	6U spacecraft, 12U total volume. Capable of 10 m resolution from 400 km. 3 min on-time per orbit. Tx power is 120 W and DC power in burst mode is 80W. Antenna size 1.7 × 3 m. Data rate is 104 Mbps and downlink rate is 40 Mbps
	6U SRI CubeSat Imaging Radar	SRI-CIRES is designed for 500 km altitude, 2.9 GHz S-band, 25 m spatial resolution, 3.2 × 1.6 m. Module volume less 1U and < 1 kg. Interferometric SAR (InSAR) for Earth science.
	NanoSAR	Antenna is 1.14 × 0.18 m, 5.8 GHz frequency. Swath width of 60 km and pixel size of 10 × 3 m from 350 km altitude. Study by Delft from 2012.
Servicing & Inspection	Multi-Purpose CubeSat at ISS	ESA study lead by Tyvak will include refueling from ISS and autonomous inspection of ISS.
Power	Thin film solar cells	Enable much larger solar panels (blanket arrays) in the same volume and mass that can be folded or rolled. Alta Devices 2U concept can produce 29W with much room to grow using their record efficient and bendable cells.
Power	Radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG)	PocketRTG is a study by University of Bristol for a CubeSat-scale RTG using COTS fuel. Measures 0.5U and mass is 0.5 kg, but output is currently only 50 mW. Also studied by NASA Glenn for Lunar missions in permanently shadowed regions.
Missions	Mars Micro Orbiter	6U Cubesat to measure the Martian atmosphere in visible and infrared wavelengths from Mars orbit. Can also act as orbital communication relay for surface-based missions.
	DAVID	6U CubeSat will flyby an asteroid much smaller than any investigated by now. Instruments are wide-field camera, a narrow-field camera and a point VNIR spectrometer.
	L5 Space Weather Sentinels (L5SWS)	One Keck Institude study proposes fractionated space weather monitoring from the Sun-Earth L5 point with 5 × 6U CubeSats. One is telecom and others would carry specific instruments. 98 m² solar sails are used to enter orbit and perform station keeping.

CubeSat Launch Provides, Programs and Prices

Last update: 2018-05-24 | Changelog

Provider	CubeSats launched	First launch	Launch sost	Additional information
Terran Orbital / Tyvak	121+ (40+ planned)	2003		CubeSat integrator for most US Gov. missions. Launches include organized by Cal Poly.
ISIS (Innovative Solutions In Space)	75+	2009	$210,000 - 270,000 for 3U LEO
NASA CSLI and ELaNa	46+ (120 selected)	2011	Free	For US educational, NASA and non-profit CubeSats. Different rockets used.
ESA Fly your Satellite!	10	2012	Free	European educational CubeSats. Used to be with Vega. ISS orbit from now on.
JAMSS / JAXA	10+	2012
Nanoracks	180+	2012	$85,000 for 1U	Only deployed from ISS. Now up to 1x6U and soon up to 12U.
Spaceflight	77+	2013	$295,000 for 3U LEO $545,000 for 6U LEO $995,000 for 12U LEO GTO and Lunar also listed
G.A.U.S.S.	12+	2013		Only available launches for PocketQubes from UniSat microsatellites.
ECM Space	15+	2017	?	Have their own 12U and 16U deployers.
Glavkosmos	50+	2017	?
Rocket Lab	3 (100+ booked on website)	2018	$70,000 - 80,000 for 1U LEO $200,000 - 250,000 for 3U LEO
KiboCUBE (UNOOSA, JAXA)	3+	2018	Free	Provide ISS launches for educational or research institutions from developing countries.
Alba Orbital	0	2018	PocketQube 1p $30,000 PocketQube 2p $47,000 PocketQube 3p $70,000	Upcoming regular PocketQube launches.
TriSept	0	2018	?	One of the NASA ELaNa launch integrators.
ULA (United Launch Alliance)	0	2018	Free	6 units planned for now. Only for U.S. colleges and universities.
Virgin Orbit	0	2018	Assuming $10 million and 40 CubeSats gives $250,000 per 3U.	Sky and Space has contract for 4 launches.
Vector Space	0	2018		First launch with PocketQubes. ICEYE has booked 21 launches from them.
D-Orbit / InOrbit NOW	0	2019	?	First launch on Vega in the first half of 2019.
bSpace	0	2019	$80,000 for 1U $220,000 for 3U $450,000 for 6U $945,000 for 12U	Up to 27U with a 200U capacity on each launch from ISS. Captured in 4k 360 degree virtual reality.
PT Scientists	0	2019	$0.9M per kg to Lunar orbit
Goonhilly / SSTL	0	2019	Lunar orbit
Astrobotic	0	2019	$1.2M per kg to Lunar orbit or surface
Precious Payload	0	?		Global launch reservation system for small satellites.

New launchers will be added here when they are very close to commercial missions because there are too many small rockets in development as seen from NewSpace Index.
Best overview of (upcoming) small satellite launchers by Carlos Niederstrasser and Warren Frick of Orbital ATK at IAC 2016. (I will mostly wait for the first launch before adding.)
There are many more providers and special (free) launch opportunities and competitions. e.g. with SLS to Moon through Cube Quest and with ESA AIM to Didymos asteroid.
Most nanosatellites from Japan, India, China and Russia are launched by their space agencies.

Ground Station Networks for Small Satellites

Organization	Sites active/planned	Status	Bands	Additional information	Cost	Investments
Spaceflight Networks	8 / 12+	Operational	UHF, S, X	Provides a list of satellite radios that are compatible.	$1.95/min for UHF. $19.95/min for S/X band.
KSAT Light	22 / 22	Operational	VHF, UHF, S, X, Ka	Two levels, high availability or less stringent.	250€/pass ?
SSC Infinity	? / ?	Operational		Makes use of pre-qualified radios.
SatNOGS	36+ / ?	Operational	VHF, UHF	Open-sourced and public.	Free
ATLAS	9 / 9	Operational	UHF, S, X, Ka
Leaf Space	4 / 20	Operational	VHF, UHF, S, X	Per megabyte payment.	5€/MB to receive UHV/VHF. 0.4€/MB to receive S band. 0.1€/Mbyte to receive X band. Better custom plans.	$2.7 million
RBC Signals	30 / 30+	Operational	UHF, S, X, Ka	Combines unused capacity of existing ground stations.		$1.5 million
Infostellar	3 / 22+	2018		StellarStation satellite antenna sharing platform.		$8.3 million
BridgeSat	0 / ?	2018	Optical / Laser	Optical comm network on a price per delivered bit basis.		$6+ million
Audacy	0 / ?	2019	Ku	Space-based system for continuous connectivity.		$6.3 million
Cingulan Space	0 / ?	?		Intelligent Ground Segment As-a-Service Provider.
EnduroSat	0 / ?	?		EU Horizon 2020 €2M grant for InnoSpaceComm project.		$2.2 million
Heliaq	0 / ?	?		Ultra-low-cost zero-maintenance mechanical design.		?

Last update: 2018-05-24 | Changelog

Mission Control Systems (MCS) for Nanosatellites

From commercial services and products to freeware mission control software

Mission Control System	Type	Status	Description	Flight heritage
Solenix / Elveti	Product	Ready / In development	Complete, cost effective solution for operating and monitoring nano and small satellites. Multi-satellites and multiple ground station capability. Scripts for simplified operations. Leverage key aerospace standards.	Based on SwissCube Satellite Control System.
Bright Ascension	Product	Ready / In development	A functional simulator allows operator training and the validation of onboard scripts before uploading. Infrastructure software to connect the ground stations to the mission operations centre.	Used on UKube-1.
NASA Open MCT	Freeware	Ready / In development	Mission control framework for visualization of data on desktop and mobile devices.	NASA Ames and JPL
Kubos	Product	In development	Full-Stack Flight Software for Satellites. Introducing a space-grade flight system with ongoing support. Cloud based mission operations and data analytics service. Integration with both cloud based ground network providers and on-site hardware.
Spaceit	Product	In development	MCS as a service, cloud based solution. In ESA BIC Estonia.	CTO background from ESTCube-1 MCS and CGI.
Saber Astronautics / PIGI	Product	In development	Mission control software for the modern age. A video-game quality interface allows you to reach any point of the spacecraft or environment, while world class data mining gives operational intelligence to the meaning of the data.	Selected by Fleet Space as operations provider.
Audacy Space / Quindar	Freeware	In early stage	Aims to create a modern, browser based, real time data visualization platform to monitor and operate complex engineering systems in a spaceflight mission operations setting. Commercially backed by Audacy to maintain it for free.
Interstel / iCOSMOS	Product	In early stage?	Spin-off company of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Primary purpose is to market iCOSMOS™ and adapt it for specific and more proprietary applications.	.
Next.it	Product	In early stage?	Based on the European Ground System - Common Core. Simplified deployment and configuration using Docker. Native Multi Mission functionality.

Last update: 2017-12-30 | Changelog

Nanosatellite Crowdfunding Campaigns

Last update: 2018-05-24 | Changelog

Project name	Organization	Raised	Goal	Year	Description	Platform
KickSat	Cornell University	$74,586	$30,000	2011	Very tiny spacecraft called Sprite for just a few hundred dollars each!	Kickstarter
Sampling Space	-	$880	$20,000	2011	TubeSat from Interorbital Systems.	Kickstarter
ArduSat	Nanosatisfy (Spire)	$106,330	$35,000	2012	Platform for public to run their space-based applications, experiments and steer cameras.	Kickstarter
SkyCube	Southern Stars	$116,890	$82,500	2012	Lets you take Earth images and "tweet" from space, then inflates a balloon for de-orbiting.	Kickstarter
LunarSail	-	$15,817	$11,000	2013	Building and launching a CubeSat amateur satellite to orbit the Moon with a Solar Sail.	Kickstarter
CAT Thruster	University of Michigan	$67,865	$200,000	2013	Test CubeSat Ambipolar Thruster (CAT), a new plasma propulsion system.	Kickstarter
ARKYD	Planetary Resources	$1,505,366	$1,000,000	2013	Advanced space telescope that will be controlled by the crowd. Take selfies from space.	Kickstarter
PocketQube	PocketQube Shop	$3,900	$3,700	2013	This Kickstarter is focused upon structures, the building blocks of any satellite.	Kickstarter
Fox-1C	AMSAT	$26,661	$25,000	2014	Carrying ham radio systems and science experiments for use around the world.	Fundrazr
Ex-Alta 1	University of Alberta	$36,681	$30,000	2014	Part of QB50 and platform for testing new magnetometer from University of Alberta.	Useed
UW Race to Moon	University of Washington	$16,541	$50,000	2015	CubeSat program aiming to compete in the NASA Cube Quest Challenge.	Useed@UW
Caelus	-	$4	$3,800	2015	Cubesat with a Bitcoin node to Space. this funding is for the Cubesat Structure.	Kickstarter
OzQube-1	-	$2,330	$50,000	2015	First PocketQube of Australia by a single person.	GoFundMe
BroncoSat 1	-	$0	$100,000	2015	Take photos of the Earth and have an active attitude control system.	C3Funding
LightSail	The Planetary Society	$1,241,615	$200,000	2015	CubeSat with a solar sail.	Kickstarter
Mayak	Moscow State University	$3,157	$45,000	2015	Become the brightest star in the night sky.	Kickstarter
CubeSat	Spaceport Indiana	$63	$60,000	2015	Sending CubeSat to space with your name on board and you can talk to it!	Kickstarter
CubeSat 4 Disclosure	-	$13,280 $10,770 $392	$12,000 $10,000 $5,000	2015 2016 2016	Search for UFOs in Low Earth Orbit by measuring radiation and taking images.	Indiegogo Kickstarter Kickstarter
KitCube Lunar Orbiter	MIT	$124,125	$100,000	2016	6U CubeSat entry into the NASA CubeQuest Challenge.	Crowdfund MIT
Irazú	ACAE	$81,369	$75,000	2016	Irazú is the first Central American satellite, made in Costa Rica.	Kickstarter
Cu-REO	UPES	$165	$40,000	2016	Nanosatellite to aid in prediction of the earthquakes prior to their occurrence.	Indiegogo
HyperQube	Weebill Space Systems	$1,712	$230,000	2016	Most powerful CubeSat - inexpensive, highly secure and capable of nearly any mission.	Kickstarter
Cislunar Explorers	Cornell University	$3,048	$50,000	2016	Open-source spacecraft propelled solely by water.	Kickstarter
SPOC Sat	University of Georgia	$5,377	$25,000	2016	Build a research laboratory that is capable of designing and building two CubeSats.	GeorgiaFunder
Project DaVinci	North Idaho STEM Charter Academy	$9,725	$250,000	2016	High school CubeSat.	Kickstarter
Modular CubeSat	University of California	$1,214	$13,000	2017	A Smartphone Powered Satellite System for Researchers and Consumers.	Indiegogo
Triteia	SEDS UCSD	$23,230	$110,000	2017	Cube Satellite to Orbit the Moon!.	Indiegogo
MoonWatcher	MoonWatcher	$17,155	$150,000	2017	24/7 Live Video of the Moon for Everyone.	Kickstarter
ESTCube-2	ESTCube	€38,743	€30,000	2017	Test the electric solar wind sail (E-sail).	Hooandja
D-SAT	D-Orbit	€12,328	€25,000	2017	Small satellite equipped with a dedicated propulsive device to remove it from orbit.	Kickstarter
MOCI	University of Georgia	$29,243	$40,000	2017	MOCI (Mapping and Ocean Color Imager) will generate 3D model of the Earth’s surface.	GeorgiaFunder
Positron Dynamics	Positron Dynamics	$1,303,000	$1,500,000	2017	Antimatter based propulsion modules.	Propelx
OTCNS	Otcns Team	$28	$300,000	2017	Orbital Time Capsule Nano Satellite.	Indiegogo
CU-E3	University of Colorado Boulder	$2,645	$100,000	2018	CU Earth Escape Explorer	Boulder

Smallsat and Nanosatellite Conferences in 2018

Conference	Dates	Location
International Workshop on Lean Satellite 2018	January 22 - 24, 2018	Kitakyuhu, Japan
2018 SmallSat Symposium	February 5 - 8, 2018	Mountain View, California, USA
PocketQube Workshop 2018	March 22 - 23, 2018	Delft, Netherlands
15th Annual CubeSat Developers Workshop	April 30 - May 2, 2018	San Luis Obispo, California, USA
7th Annual Lunarcubes Workshop	May 3 - 4, 2018	San Luis Obispo, California, USA
Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference 2018	May 7-8, 2018	Pasadena, California, USA
4S Symposium 2018	May 28 - June 1, 2018	Sorrento, Italy
7th Interplanetary CubeSat Workshop	May 29 - 30, 2018	Paris, France
CubeSat Innovation Workshop 2018	July 10 - 11, 2018	Sydney, Australia
SmallSat 2018	August 4 - 9, 2018	Logan, Utah, USA
INSPIRE and Small Sat Workshop	August 27 - 29, 2018	Paris, France
Open Source CubeSat Workshop 2018	September 24 - 25, 2018	Madrid, Spain
69th IAC 2018	October 1 - 5, 2018	Bremen, Germany
1st China Microsatellite Symposium	November 18 - 20, 2018	Xi'an, China
10th European CubeSat Symposium	December 5 - 7, 2018	Toulouse, France

Last update: 2018-05-24 | Changelog

Feel free to connect at any time. Always glad to receive your questions and feedback.

Created by Erik Kulu

Email: erikkulu@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/erikkulu

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LinkedIn: Nanosatellite Database
Twitter: twitter.com/nanosatellites