NASA SmallSat News and Announcements

July 2021
New NASA Challenge to Fund and Test Small Spacecraft Technologies

NASA’s Flight Opportunities program has launched a new technology challenge, the NASA TechLeap Prize, aimed at providing development funding and access to suborbital flight testing for promising space technologies that meet a specific agency need.

The first topic for the challenge, developed in collaboration with NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, is focused on discovering compact observation technologies for small spacecraft that can be tested on suborbital flights. The Autonomous Observation Challenge No. 1 is open to researchers from qualified commercial businesses, academic institutions, entrepreneurs, and other innovators, and aims to identify integrated, compact precision pointing systems that could be used to autonomously detect, track, and collect data on transient events – both on Earth and beyond. These capabilities might also be leveraged for autonomous ad hoc optical communications networks, aiding lunar exploration in detecting, tracking, and establishing line-of-sight communications with any lander, rover, or object on the Moon.

Registration Deadline: July 28, 2021
Submission Deadline: August 11, 2021

There will be up to four awardees, for prizes of up to $500,000 to each awardee to build a payload for flight testing. In addition, NASA intends to provide each winner access to a suborbital flight test on a vehicle provided by a NASA-contracted flight provider.

Learn more at: https://www.nasatechleap.org/

December 2020
S3VI Announces the 2020 Small Spacecraft Technology State of the Art (SoA) Report
[https://www.nasa.gov/smallsat-institute/sst-soa]

The latest Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI) Resource Brief reports the release of the 2020 Small Spacecraft Technology SoA Report, highlighting the information on new and more mature technologies and subsystems included in the new edition from NASA and other publicly available sources.

Read more about the 2020 SoA Report at:

[https://www.nasa.gov/smallsat-institute/sst-soa-2020]

June 2020

Solicitations

Entrepreneurs’ Challenge (https://www.nasa-science-challenge.com/)
Ask Me Anything #1: June 9, 2020
Ask Me Anything #2: June 23, 2020
Applications Close: June 26, 2020

Commercial SmallSat Data Analysis – ROSES-20 Amendment 26 (https://bit.ly/2UwY8ll)
Mandatory Notices of Intent Due: July 1, 2020
Proposals Due: September 1, 2020

S3VI Information Search
Visit the Small Spacecraft Information Search (https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/) to find Systems, Parts, and Publications.

New databases recently included in the Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute’s Information Search include:
· CubeSat Developers Workshop Proceedings
· Satsearch
· Small Satellite Conference Proceedings
· PMPedia Parts Knowledge Repository

Virtual Conference Recordings Posted
May 11-12, 2020 Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference – Recordings and presentations are posted at: (https://www.intersmallsatconference.com/)

Web Articles
NASA CubeSat Mission to Gather Vital Space Weather Data
NASA has selected a new pathfinding CubeSat mission to gather data not collected since the agency flew the Dynamics Explorer… Read the full article at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-cubesat-mission-to-gather-vital-space-weather-data 

February 2020
ISS National Annual Report Available Online

September 2019
SmallSat Technology Partnerships Solicitation

September 2019
NASA Funds CubeSat Pathfinder Mission to Unique Lunar Orbit

August 2019
NASA SMALL SPACECRAFT STRATEGIC PLAN RELEASED

NASA has supported small spacecraft mission development for more than a decade as small spacecraft capabilities have rapidly advanced with tangible results. To improve coordination among the individual Mission Directorates to place more emphasis on an overarching integrated strategy to advance overall Agency objectives, NASA has produced the NASA Small Spacecraft Strategic Plan. This Plan supports NASA’s 2018 Strategic Plan’s four strategic goals of Discover, Explore, Develop, and Enable, while promoting a balanced portfolio of science, technology, and exploration missions. The strategies herein are also influenced by the National Academies of Science’s Achieving Science with its CubeSats report recommendations, and add guidance to those recommendations to account for the future capability growth in launch systems and ESPA-class spacecraft.

August 2019
NASA’s CUBESAT LAUNCH INITIATIVE OPENS CALL FOR PAYLOADS ON ARTEMIS 2

Artemis 2 will mark a significant step forward in NASA’s plans to return humans to the Moon for long-term exploration, and future missions to worlds beyond, including Mars. CubeSats could play a significant role in this historic mission, helping to inform the next steps of space exploration.    Under the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), NASA is seeking proposals from US small satellite developers to fly their CubeSat missions as secondary payloads aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) on the Artemis 2 mission. CSLI provides CubeSat developers a low-cost pathway to conduct research in space that advances NASA’s strategic goals in the areas of science, exploration, technology development, education and operations. The initiative allows students, teachers and faculty to gain hands-on experience designing, building, and operating these small research satellites.   Read more at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-cubesat-launch-initiative-opens-call-for-payloads-on-artemis-2-mission .

August 2019
ONE WATER-POWERED NASA SPACECRAFT COMMANDS ANOTHER IN ORBIT

On June 21, 2019, NASA demonstrated the first coordinated maneuver between two CubeSats in low-Earth orbit as part of NASA’s Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration mission. The twin spacecraft, each approximately the size of a tissue box, were orbiting Earth about 5.5 miles apart when they established a radio frequency communications cross-link to “talk” with each other. One spacecraft issued a command to the second to activate its thruster and close the gap between the two. The fuel tanks on both spacecraft are filled with water. During this propulsive maneuver, the water was converted to steam by the thrusters to propel the spacecraft. “Demonstrations such as this will help advance technologies that will allow for greater and more extended use of small spacecraft in and beyond Earth-orbit,” said Roger Hunter, program manager of the Small Spacecraft Technology program.  Read more at: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/ames/cubesats-dance-one-water-powered-nasa-spacecraft-commands-another-in-orbit .

August 2019
NASA SELECTS PROPOSALS TO STUDY INTERPLANETARY SPACE

Photo Credit: ESA/NASA/SOHO NASA has selected two proposals to demonstrate technologies to improve science observations in deep space. The proposals could help NASA develop better models to predict space weather events that can affect astronauts and spacecraft, such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). In this image, taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory on Feb. 27, 2000, a CME is seen erupting from the Sun, which is hidden by the disk in the middle, so the fainter material around it can be seen.  Read more at: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-proposals-to-demonstrate-smallsat-technologies-to-study-interplanetary .

April 2019
NASA Demos CubeSat Laser Communications Capability
 
Two NASA CubeSats teamed up on an impromptu optical, or laser, communications pointing experiment. The laser beam is seen as a brief flash of light close to the center of the focal plane, to the left of Earth’s horizon.
 
The light originated from the laser communications system onboard one of two Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration (OCSD) spacecraft. The laser flash was recorded by a short-wavelength infrared camera, one of three cameras comprising the CubeSat Multispectral Observation System (CUMULOS) payload, onboard the Integrated Solar Array and Reflectarray Antenna (ISARA) spacecraft. At the time of the demonstration, the OCSD and ISARA spacecraft were both 280 miles above Earth and about 1,500 miles apart.
 
The optical communications beam was deliberately aimed at and swept across the ISARA camera. This demonstration shows that an optical crosslink between two CubeSats is feasible with proper pointing and alignment of the emitting and receiving spacecraft. Optimizing this capability could enable constellations of small satellites to transfer high volume data between one another in low-Earth orbit or even in orbit around the Moon.
 
For more information, see:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/feature/cubesat_laser_communications_capability.

December 2018
NASA Receiving Deep Space Data from MarCO CubeSats 

NASA’s MarCO mission was built to see whether two experimental, briefcase-sized spacecraft could survive the trip to deep space, and the two CubeSats proved more than able. After cruising along behind NASA’s InSight for seven months, they successfully relayed data back down to Earth from the lander during its descent to the Martian surface on Monday, Nov. 26, 2018.
 
In the image to the left, MarCO-B was flying by Mars with its twin, MarCO-A to attempt to serve as communications relays for NASA’s InSight spacecraft as it landed on Mars.
 
Read more at: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?
and
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-sends-cubesats-to-space-on-first-dedicated-launch-with-us-partner-rocket-lab.

December 2018
NASA’s Insight Spacecraft Lands on Mars
 

For more on the Mars landing and NASA Insight Mission, see:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/insight/
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/how-nasa-will-know-when-insight-touches-down 

October 2018
NASA Tests Small Satellites to Track Global Storms 

 RainCube, sponsored by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office through the InVEST-15 program, uses experimental small satellite technology to see storms by detecting rain and snow with very small instruments. This CubeSat is a prototype for a possible fleet of such small satellites that could one day help monitor severe storms, lead to improving the accuracy of weather forecasts and track climate change over time.
 
RainCube was deployed into low-Earth orbit from the International Space Station in July. The first images it sent back were from an area above Mexico, where it took a snapshot of a developing storm in August, demonstrating its possibilities for use in formation with other such satellites to track storms by relaying updated information on them every few minutes. Eventually, they could yield data to help evaluate and improve weather models that predict the movement of rain, snow, sleet and hail.
 
To read the full NASA article on RainCube, see: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7246. 

October 2018
Small Satellite Demonstrates Possible Solution for Hazards Posed by Space Debris 

Space debris can lead to collisions and potential damage to operational satellites, which may affect satellite-dependent services on earth. In recent years, a credible solution for addressing this threat has been under investigation: the active removal of large space debris objects by capture and then disposal by destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, or in graveyard orbits.
 
On June 20, 2018, the NanoRacks-Remove Debris satellite was deployed into space from outside the Japanese Kibo laboratory module of the International Space Station to demonstrate possible technologies for active debris removal in-orbit. This technology demonstration was designed to explore the use of a 3D camera to map the location and speed of orbital debris to establish the best way of handling a specific object of debris. The NanoRacks-Remove Debris satellite also successfully deployed a net to capture a nanosatel-lite that simulated debris.
 
Read more at: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/researching-how-best-to-remove-space-junk. 

July 2018
Tiny Cameras Snap Pictures of Great Lake
 

 
These two images of Lake Superior and surrounding area show the first data downlinked from the CubeSat Multispectral Observation System (CUMULOS), an Aerospace Corporation demonstration of an experimental payload hosted on NASA’s Integrated Solar Array and Reflectarray Antenna (ISARA) small spacecraft mission managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
 
The image on the left, taken by a short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) camera, captures a larger area of the lake and shows strong contrast between land and water features. The narrower field of view image on the right taken by the payload’s long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) camera indicates a difference in water temperature between the lake’s center and the water in the bays and inlets.
 
CUMULOS is testing the performance of commercial sensors for weather and environmental monitoring missions. The cameras are designed for point-and-stare imaging and allow almost simultaneous coverage of Earth regions from an orbital altitude of 280 miles (452 km).
 
See the NASA write-up of this item at:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/small_spacecraft/Tiny_Cameras_Snap_Pictures_-of_Great_Lake. 

 July 2018
Small Satellite Demonstrating Space Debris Removal Set for Deployment
 
Expedition 56 flight engineer Ricky Arnold of NASA prepares the RemoveDEBRIS satellite for deployment aboard the International Space Station. The satellite was successfully deployed from the NanoRacks deployer on station June 20, 2018. It will demonstrate an approach to reducing the risks presented by space debris or “space junk”.
 
See the NASA write-up at:
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/small-satellite-demonstrating-space-debris-removal-set-for-deployment. 

July 2018
NASA Tests Solar Sail for CubeSat that Will Study Near-Earth Asteroids
 
NASA’s Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, a small satellite designed to study asteroids close to Earth, performed a successful deployment test June 28 of the solar sail that will launch on Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). The test was performed in an indoor clean room at the NeXolve facility in Huntsville, Alabama.
 
Read the full NASA item at: https://www.nasa.gov/launching-science-and-technology/solar-sail-test-will-study-near-earth-asteroid.

May 2018
Two NASA ELaNa CubeSat Projects Illustrate the Program’s Function as an Educational Platform

Two educational CubeSat missions were selected through the CubeSat Launch Initiative as part of the 14th installment of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) missions. The ELaNa XIV mission was an auxiliary payload on the Nov. 18, 2017, launch of the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 satellite (now NOAA-20), a collaborative effort between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA.
 
Learn about the post-launch status pf the RadFxSat (a partnership between students at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, and AMSAT, a worldwide group of amateur radio operators) and the EagleSat-1 (a Space Grant project out of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona) at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/after-launch-two-nasa-educational-cubesats.

May 2018
Small Packages to Test Big Space Technology Advances

When a recent cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station lifted off from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, it carried among its supplies and experiments three cereal box-sized satellites that will be used to test and demonstrate the next generation of Earth-observing technology. NASA has been increasing its use of CubeSats to put new technologies in orbit where they can be tested in the harsh environment of space before being used as part of larger satellite missions or constellations of spacecraft. The three CubeSat missions launched on Orbital ATK’s ninth commercial resupply mission represent a broad range of cutting-edge technologies housed in very small packages.
 
Read more at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/small-packages-to-test-big-space-technology-advances.

May 2018
IceCube’s First Global Map of Ice Clouds

Looking at Earth from the International Space Station, astronauts see big, white clouds spreading across the planet. They cannot distinguish a gray rain cloud from a puffy white cloud. While satellites can see through many clouds and estimate the liquid precipitation they hold, they cannot see the smaller ice particles that create enormous rain clouds.
 
An experimental small satellite has filled this void and captured the first global picture of the small frozen particles inside clouds, normally called ice clouds. Deployed from the space station in May 2017, IceCube is testing instruments for their ability to make space-based measurements of the small, frozen crystals that make up ice clouds.
 
Over the past year, engineers tested the satellite’s limits while on orbit. They wanted to see if the instrument’s batteries stored enough power to run 24 hours. IceCube charges its batteries when the Sun shines on its solar arrays. During the test, although safeguards prevented the satellite from losing all its power and ending the mission, the test was successful. The batteries operated the IceCube all night and recharged during the day. This change made the CubeSat more valuable for science data collection.
 
Read more at:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/tiny-satellites-first-global-map-of-ice-clouds.

December 2017
EcAMSat and TechEdSat-6

NASA launched EcAMSat and TechEdSat-6 to the International Space Station on Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Nov. 12. EcAMSat – the E. coli Anti-Microbial Satellite – is a small satellite containing a miniature biology lab, developed and constructed at NASA’s Ames Research Center, in California’s Silicon Valley. EcAMSat is taking E. coli into low-Earth orbit to conduct a science investigation aimed at improving astronaut health.
 
To read more about EcAMSat, see: 
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/inside-ecamsat-nasas-orbiting-mini-lab-for-bacteria
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/nasa-is-sending-e-coli-to-space-for-astronaut-health

The Technology Educational Satellite, or TechEdSat-6, was released into low-Earth orbit from the NanoRacks platform on Nov. 20, to begin a series of wireless sensor experiments which will be the first self-powered tests, expanding the capabilities of sensor networks for future ascent or re-entry systems. This is the fourth TechEdSat satellite carrying an updated version of the Exo-Brake that will demonstrate guided controlled re-entry of small spacecraft to safely return science experiments from space. 

Read more at: 
https://www.nasa.gov/ames/image-feature/nasa-to-test-advanced-space-wireless-sensor-network-and-device-for-returning-small-spacecraft-to-Earth . 

December 2017
NASA Begins Checkout of Dellingr Spacecraft Designed to Improve Robustness of CubeSat Platforms

NASA ground controllers have begun checking out and commissioning a shoebox-sized spacecraft that the agency purposely built to show that CubeSat platforms could be cost-effective, reliable, and capable of gathering highly robust science.
 
Read more at: 
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-begins-checkout-of-dellingr-spacecraft-designed-to-improve-robustness-of-cubesat

November 2017
NASA CubeSat Missions: Pushing the Boundaries of Technology

NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology Program is on the countdown clock to advance communications and proximity maneuvering capabilities for CubeSats with two separate technology demonstration missions. The Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration (OCSD) mission will showcase the first-ever high-speed data downlink from a CubeSat to a ground station using lasers, in addition to maneuvering the pair of diminutive spacecraft to up-close proximity. Also set for demonstration is the Integrated Solar Array and Reflectarray Antenna (ISARA) mission. A reflectarray is a relatively new type of antenna fabricated from standard printed circuit boards with an array of square copper patches etched on them.
 
These innovative satellites were carried onboard Orbital ATK’s Cygnus advanced maneuvering spacecraft, a commercial resupply vehicle that will berth to the International Space Station (ISS). Atop the Orbital ATK’s Antares booster, the Cygnus commercial resupply mission launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Nov. 12.
 
Read more about these CubeSat missions at:
https://www.nasa.gov/spacetech/feature/CubeSat_Missions_Pushing_Boundaries_of_Technology.

October 2017
Request for Information: Possible NASA Astrophysics SmallSats

Through request for information (RFI) NNH17ZDA010L NASA’s Astrophysics Division seeks SmallSats mission concepts in two separate topic areas that could fulfill NASA astrophysics science goals as described in the 2014 NASA Science Plan.
 
Topic 1 (“Science Mission Concepts”), would capitalize on the creativity in the astrophysics community to envision compelling missions advancing compelling astrophysics science that can be realized involving small satellites (SmallSats) at a cost between that of Astrophysics CubeSats, which are currently solicited through the Astrophysics Research and Analysis (APRA) element of the Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) NASA Research Announcement, and Astrophysics Explorers Small Complete Missions, which are currently solicited as Astrophysics Explorers Missions of Opportunity.
 
Topic 2 (“Advanced Technology Concepts”), solicits ideas for advanced mission concepts advancing compelling astrophysics science and involving SmallSats for which significant investments in instrument and/or spacecraft technologies would be required. Advanced concept missions are defined to be beyond the horizon of near-term solicitations. Such mission concepts are not limited by cost but rather by their realization using small satellites.
 
The information in response to Topic 1 will be used to inform NASA’s program planning, including consideration of whether to competitively solicit NASA-funded U.S. SmallSats as astrophysics science missions. In addition, the information in response to both Topics 1 and 2 will be used to help craft new topics for future technology solicitations in the Science Mission Directorate and the Space Technology Mission Directorate.
 
Responses to this RFI may be provided by November 30, 2017 as PDF of no more than 5 pages uploaded via NSPIRES in response to NNH17ZDA010L. For more information about this RFI and detailed instructions on how to respond please see the full text of this call on the NSPIRES web page for this RFI, which may be found by directly downloading theRequest for Information: Possible NASA Astrophysics SmallSats (.PDF) or by going to https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/solicitations!open.do and searching on “NNH17ZDA010L”.
 
After reading the full text of NNH17ZDA010L, questions may be directed to Dr. Michael R. Garcia at Michael.R.Garcia@nasa.gov (subject line to read “Question on Astrophysics SmallSat RFI”). Responses to all inquiries will be answered via Email and also posted to a FAQ under “Other documents” on the NSPIRES page for this RFI. Anonymity of persons/institutions who submit questions will be preserved.

October 2017
NASA Announces New Technology App Availability

 The newest edition of our Technology Innovation app is now available for download in the iTunes and Google Play stores. This digital content can be viewed on iPhones, iPads, or Android platforms as well as on the web:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/home/innovation_ezine.html.
 
Each issue of this publication features space technology innovators and project developments across NASA, highlighting the American inventors, entrepreneurs and application engineers who have transformed space exploration technologies into products that benefit the nation. Volume 17, Issue 3 focuses on Small Spacecraft technology development across the agency, including propulsion systems, the Mars Cube One demonstration as well as other commercial collaborations.

September 2017
NASA Issues a Request for Information for SmallSat Parts on Orbit Now (SPOON) Database

 NASA’s Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI) announces a Request for Information, the purpose of which is to gather and assess the availability and capability of industry to provide small satellites technologies, components, and systems relevant to small spacecraft for Earth and interplanetary mission design.
 
Areas of interest include: Structures; Materials & Mechanisms; Complete Spacecraft Platforms; Communications; Propulsion; Power; Command and Data Handling; Attitude Determination & Control; Thermal Systems; Software (Architectures, Methodologies); Guidance, Navigation, and Control; Spacecraft Integration; Launch and Deployment; Optoelectronics; and Deorbit Mechanisms.
 
For more information, click here. 

August 2017
NASA’s New Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI)

In light of strong growth in the use of small spacecraft by US Government, academic, and industry partners, NASA is actively involved across its mission directorates and Centers in all aspects of small spacecraft missions, and is leveraging its capabilities to enable small spacecraft as new innovation tools to achieve Agency goals and objectives. Paramount in this endeavor is advancing clear communication, coordination, and consistent guidance regarding small spacecraft activities, and to provide the US research community access to mission enabling information. 

To this end, the Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI) was established in January to enhance NASA internal integration and to provide a single point of contact to disseminate mission enabling information and streamlined development approaches for NASA and the research community. Functioning under the auspices of the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), the S3VI is hosted at the Ames Research Center, with Bruce Yost as the Director. A project manager for Ames’ early small spacecraft missions and a former Small Spacecraft Technology Program manager, Yost and his team will work over the next year to establish both a physical and virtual presence for the S3VI within NASA and the small spacecraft community at large.
 
The S3VI provides a portal for exchange of information on small spacecraft activities across NASA, among other federal agencies, and with external groups. Over the next several months the S3VI plans to release the first of its federated small spacecraft databases as well as to host an online seminar series open to the public. The S3VI portal may be accessed at https://www.nasa.gov/smallsat-institute.
 
Click here to view an August 2017 PowerPoint presentation for an S3VI Overview and Update.