PhotSat Spacecraft

Obtain a full sky photometric monitoring of the approximately 40 million brighter astrophysical sources down to magnitude 15.

Obtain a full sky photometric monitoring of the approximately 40 million brighter astrophysical sources down to magnitude 15. Its main science case is in the support of high-precision programmes of all kinds (transients, exo planets, solar system, stars, galaxies, …). By using a CubeSat platform in low-Earth orbit, the PhotSat mission will be able to access both the optical and ultraviolet ranges using two independent telescopes.

Thanks to their wide field of view (FoV=6 or 8º) the mission will be able to revisit each sky position with a cadence of only 2-3 days, except for an exclusion region of 45º around the Sun. As the design lifetime is of 2-3 years, the entire sky will be completely observed by the end of the mission.

PhotSat will provide dense light curves for all bright sources in the sky, simultaneously in three different passbands (one in the ultraviolet and two in the optical) using CMOS detectors. The PhotSat consortium is composed of several institutes, universities and industries in the Catalan ecosystem.