A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of 10 cm (3.9 in) cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than 2 kg (4.4 lb) per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats are deployed into orbit from the International Space Station, or launched as secondary payloads on a launch vehicle. As of December 2023, more than 2,300 CubeSats have been launched.
A small satellite, miniaturized satellite, or smallsat is a satellite of low mass and size, usually under 1,200 kg (2,600 lb). 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.
The Israeli Nano Satellite Association was set up in Israel in 2006, with the aim of promoting the use of nanosatellites.
SARAL is a cooperative altimetry technology mission of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES). SARAL performs altimetric measurements designed to study ocean circulation and sea surface elevation.
Planetary Resources, Inc., formerly known as Arkyd Astronautics, was an American company that was formed on 1 January 2009, and reorganized and renamed in 2012. Its stated goal was to "expand Earth's natural resource base" by developing and deploying the technologies for asteroid mining.
Planet Labs PBC is a publicly trading American Earth imaging company based in San Francisco, California. Their goal is to image the entirety of the Earth daily to monitor changes and pinpoint trends.
OPS-SAT was a CubeSat by the European Space Agency (ESA), intended to demonstrate the improvements in mission control capabilities that will arise when satellites can fly more powerful on-board computers. The mission had the objective to break the cycle of "has never flown, will never fly" in the area of satellite control. It was the first CubeSat operated directly by ESA.
The Polish Space Agency is the space agency of Poland, administered by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology. It is a member of the European Space Agency. The agency is focused on developing satellite networks and space technologies in Poland. It was established on 26 September 2014, and its headquarters are located in Gdańsk, Poland.
Spire Global, Inc. is a space-to-cloud data and analytics company that specializes in the tracking of global data sets powered by a large constellation of nanosatellites, such as the tracking of maritime, aviation and weather patterns.
Satellogic Inc. is a company specializing in Earth-observation satellites, founded in 2010 by Emiliano Kargieman and Gerardo Richarte.
The NanoSat MO Framework (NMF) is an open-source software framework for small satellites based on CCSDS Mission Operations services.
NanoAvionics Corp is a small satellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator founded as a spin-off from Vilnius University, Lithuania in 2014.
Sky and Space Global (UK) Ltd is a British public company planning a constellation of 200 nanosatellites in equatorial Low Earth orbit for narrowband communications that it expects will cost $160 million or less to complete in total. Satellites will feature inter-satellite links and the capability to autonomously monitor and manage satellite health and the in-orbit communications network. The company has branches in the United Kingdom, Israel and Australia.
BRAC Onnesha was the first nanosatellite built in Bangladesh to be launched into space. The satellite was designed and built in conjunction with Kyushu Institute of Technology Birds-1 program, which has the goal of helping countries build their first satellite. It was designed and built over a two-year period.
Birds-1 was the first iteration of a multinational program called the Joint Global Multi-Nations Birds Satellite project, or Birds project, to help countries build their first satellite. The Japanese Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT) supported the design and fabrication of the satellites. The constellation was launched by a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station on 3 June 2017, as part of CRS-11, where it was released from the Kibō module into space. Japan, Ghana, Mongolia, Nigeria, and Bangladesh participated in the Birds-1 program, all building identical satellites for the constellation.
Alén Space is a Spanish company in the NewSpace sector, located in Vigo. Alén Space designs, constructs, and develops software and hardware for artificial satellites. Since 2008, the company builds nanosatellites below CubeSat requirements.
Kleos Space S.A. is a Luxembourg based space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance company that delivers global intelligence and geolocation data as a service. Kleos Space uses its clusters of nanosatellites to detect and locate radio frequency transmissions on land and sea to uncover hidden or illegal activity in key areas. The data collected by the constellation enables up to six antenna pairs to be used in proprietary multilateration algorithms. These algorithms uncover data points of human activity on land and sea for government and commercial use and are delivered to Kleos’ customers, which include various analytics and intelligence entities. Such entities can, for example, detect ships used for unlawful purposes, such as piracy, drug smuggling, and illegal fishing. Their technology can pick up on transmissions independent of other systems, allowing it to provide data when imagery is unclear or targets are out of normal aircraft patrol range.
The Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) is the national space agency of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It was founded on September 12, 2018, by Luxembourg's Economy Minister Étienne Schneider.
Hera is a space mission in development at the European Space Agency in its Space Safety program. Its primary objective is to study the Didymos binary asteroid system that was impacted by DART and contribute to validation of the kinetic impact method to deviate a near-Earth asteroid in a colliding trajectory with Earth. It will measure the size and the morphology of the crater created and momentum transferred by an artificial projectile impacting an asteroid, which will allow measuring the efficiency of the deflection produced by the impact. It will also analyze the expanding debris cloud caused by the impact.
Spacety is a Chinese satellite technology company established in 2016 with a focus on the development, manufacture, and operation of micro/nano-satellites for various applications including earth observation, scientific research, and communication.
