PocketQube

A PocketQube is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a size of cube with 5 cm sides (one eighth the volume of a CubeSat), has a mass of no more than 250 grams, and typically uses commercial off-the-shelf components for its electronics.

Not to be confused with Pocket Cube.
PocketQube
Specifications
Launch mass250 g
Dimensions5 × 5 × 5 cm (1p)

Beginning in 2009,[1] Morehead State University (MSU) and Kentucky Space developed the PocketQube specifications to help universities worldwide to perform space science and exploration. While the bulk of development comes from academia, several companies build PocketQubes, such as Fossa Systems and Alba Orbital.[2] PocketQube projects have even been the subject of Kickstarter campaigns.[3][4] The PocketQube format is also popular with amateur radio satellite builders.[5]

Design

The PocketQube specification accomplishes several high-level goals. Simplification makes it possible to design and produce a workable satellite at low cost. Encapsulation of the launcher-payload interface takes away the prohibitive amount of managerial work previously required for mating a piggyback satellite with its launcher. Unification among payloads and launchers enables quick exchanges of payloads and utilization of launch opportunities on short notice. PocketQube is similar to CubeSat in this regard.

The standard was first proposed by Professor Bob Twiggs of Morehead State University, and the intention was for a satellite which could fit in a pocket, hence the name PocketQube.

Workshops

The first US workshop was held at NASA Ames and at Cape Canaveral in April 2014. There was a three-year gap until the next PocketQube workshop was held at TU Delft in The Netherlands in March 2017. The third workshop took place also at TU Delft in March 2018, with 22 presentations and 70 attendees. This is now an annual event for the PocketQube development community.

Launched

Listed in ascending order by launch date.

  – Indicates low altitude launch.
Orbital No Name Type Organisation Mission Launch Date (UTC) Rocket Status Broker Decay date
1 United States Beakersat-1[lower-alpha 1] 2.5p Morehead State University, Sonoma State University Teaching Tool 2013-11-21, 07:11 Dnepr No longer in orbit GAUSS Decay: 2019-2-13[6]
2 United States $50Sat (Eagle-2) 1.5p Amateur Group Amateur Mission No longer in orbit Decay: 2018-5-18[7]
3 United States QubeScout-S1 2.5p University of Maryland, Baltimore County Sensor/dynamic attitude experiments In orbit
4 Germany WREN 1p Stadoko UG Tech demo, Camera SSTV, 3 Axis Reaction Wheel and pp Thrusters In orbit
Canada Astria 5p BCIT Satellite Launch Program Test structural feasibility at 30,000 feet for new design 2018-6-21[8] UBC Black Tusk[9] Launch failure[10] UBC Suborbital: 2018-6-21
United States TQube 1p Amateur Insulation testing and recording of structural dynamics 2019-10-11, 18:37 Neutron Success TQube Suborbital: 2019-10-11
5 Hungary SMOG-P 1p Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary Measurement of the radio spectrum in the UHF TV band 2019-12-6,

08:18

 Electron No longer in orbit Alba Orbital Decay: 2020-09-28[11]
6 Hungary ATL-1 2p Advanced Technology of Laser Test a new thermal isolation material in space No longer in orbit Decay: 2020-10-9[12]
7 Spain FossaSat-1 1p Fossa Systems LoRa Demonstration & Deployable solar panels. No longer in orbit Decay: 2020-10-28[13]
8 United States Noor 1a

(Unicorn-2b)

 3p Stara Space Experimental No longer in orbit Decay: 2020-12-29[14]
9 United States Noor 1b

(Unicorn-2c)

 3p Stara Space Experimental No longer in orbit Decay: 2020-04-7[15]
10 Germany TRSI 1p TRSI Club Amateur, testing novel receiver No longer in orbit Decay: 2020-10-13[16]
11 Argentina DIY-1 / ARDUIQUBE 1p DIYSATELLITE Technology Demonstrator 2021-3-22, 06:07:12 Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat In orbit GAUSS
12 Italy STECCO 6p School of Aerospace Engineering of Sapienza University of Rome Laser Ranging In orbit
13 Hungary SMOG-1 1p Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary Measurement of the radio spectrum in the UHF TV band In orbit
Argentina MDQube SAT-1 prototype 1.25p Innova Space Technology demonstration 2021-6-11 Aventura I-e2 Success TLON Space Suborbital: 2021-6-11
14 Spain GENESIS N 1.5p AMSAT EA Amateur Radio / Thruster Experiment 2021-9-3, 01:59 Alpha Launch failure FOSSA System / Libre Space Foundation Suborbital: 2021-9-3[lower-alpha 2]
15 Spain GENESIS L 1.5p AMSAT EA Amateur Radio / Thruster Experiment Launch failure
16 Greece QUBIK 1 1p Libre Space Foundation Amateur Radio[17] / Technology Demonstrator Launch failure
17 Greece QUBIK 2 1p Libre Space Foundation Amateur Radio[17] / Technology Demonstrator Launch failure
18 Spain FOSSASAT 1b 1p Fossa Systems LoRa Demonstration Launch failure
19 Spain FOSSASAT 2 2p Fossa Systems LoRa Demonstration Launch failure
20 Germany Unicorn 1 2p Alba Orbital UG Inter-sat link 2022-1-13, 15:25 Falcon 9 In orbit Alba Orbital / Exolaunch
21 Germany Unicorn 2A 3p Alba Orbital UG Earth observation In orbit
22 Germany Unicorn 2D 3p Alba Orbital UG Earth observation In orbit
23 Germany Unicorn 2E 3p Alba Orbital UG Earth observation In orbit
24 Germany Unicorn 2TA1 1p Carnegie Mellon University Earth observation In orbit
25 Netherlands Delfi-PQ 3p Delft University of Technology IoT In orbit
26 Spain Hades 1.5p AMSAT EA Amateur radio In orbit
27 Spain EASAT-2 1.5p AMSAT EA Amateur radio / Science In orbit
28 Israel Sattla-2A 2p Ariel University Education In orbit
29 Israel Sattla-2B 2p Ariel University Education In orbit
30 Brazil PION-BR1 1p PION Labs Technology Demonstrator In orbit
31 Argentina MDQube-SAT1 2p Innova Space Technology Demonstrator In orbit
32 Turkey Grizu-263a 1p Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University Technology Demonstrator In orbit
33 United States Challenger 3p Quub / Intuidex Technology Demonstrator In orbit FOSSA Systems / Exolaunch
34 Nepal SanoSat-1 1p Orion Space Technology Demonstrator In orbit
35 Switzerland WISeSAT-1 (FOSSASAT-2E1) 2p WISeKey IoT In orbit
36 Switzerland WISeSAT-2 (FOSSASAT-2E2) 2p WISeKey IoT In orbit
37 Italy CShark Pilot 1 (FOSSASAT-2E3) 2p CShark IoT In orbit
38 Sweden Laika (FOSSASAT-2E4) 2p Porkchop Technology Demonstrator In orbit
39 Spain FOSSASAT-2E5 2p FOSSA Systems IoT In orbit
40 Spain FOSSASAT-2E6 2p FOSSA Systems IoT In orbit
41 Germany Unicorn-2F 3p Alba Orbital UG Earth observation 2022-5-2, 22:49 Electron In orbit Alba Orbital
42 Germany TRSI-2 1p TRSI Club Amateur radio In orbit
43 Germany TRSI-3 1p TRSI Club Amateur radio In orbit
44 United States MyRadar-1 1p ACME AtronOmatic, LLC (MyRadar) Experimental In orbit
45 Spain FOSSASAT-2E7 2p FOSSA Systems IoT / Earth Exploration 2022-5-25, 18:35 Falcon 9 In orbit FOSSA Systems / Momentus
46 Spain FOSSASAT-2E8 2p FOSSA Systems IoT / Earth Exploration In orbit
47 Spain FOSSASAT-2E9 2p FOSSA Systems IoT / Earth Exploration Deployment failure
48 Spain FOSSASAT-2E10 2p FOSSA Systems IoT / Earth Exploration Deployment failure
49 Spain FOSSASAT-2E11 2p FOSSA Systems IoT / Earth Exploration In orbit
50 Spain FOSSASAT-2E12 2p FOSSA Systems IoT / Earth Exploration In orbit
51 Spain FOSSASAT-2E13 2p FOSSA Systems IoT / Earth Exploration In orbit
52 United States Canary Hatchling 1p CareWeather Demonstrator In orbit
53 Spain FOSSASAT-1B 1p FOSSA Systems IoT 2022-10-1, 07:01 Alpha No longer in orbit Libre Space Foundation Decay: 2022-10-3
54 Spain GENESIS-G/ASTROLAND-1 1.5p AMSAT EA Technology Demonstrator No longer in orbit Decay: 2022-10-3
55 Spain GENESIS-J/ASTROLAND-2 1.5p AMSAT EA Technology Demonstrator No longer in orbit Decay: 2022-10-3
56 Greece QUBIK-3 1p Libre Space Foundation Amateur Radio[18] / Technology Demonstrator No longer in orbit Decay: 2022-10-3
57 Greece QUBIK-4 1p Libre Space Foundation Amateur Radio[18] / Technology Demonstrator No longer in orbit Decay: 2022-10-3
58 Germany Unicorn-2G 3p Alba Orbital UG Earth observation 2023-1-3

14:56

 Falcon 9 Transfer stage failure Launcher
59 Germany Unicorn-2H 3p Alba Orbital UG Earth observation Transfer stage failure
60 Spain URESAT 1.5p AMSAT EA / URE Amateur radio 12 June 2023

21:35

 Falcon 9 In orbit Alba Orbital
61 Hungary MRC-100 (formerly SMOG-2) 3p Budapest University of Technology and Economics Radio spectrum measurement, technology demonstration In orbit
62 Romania ROM-2 1p International Computer High School of Bucharest Earth observation In orbit
63 Germany Unicorn-2I 3p Alba Orbital UG Earth observation In orbit
64 Israel Satlla-2I 2p Ariel University Education In orbit
65 Turkey Istanbul 1p Hello Space IoT In orbit
66 Russia TinySat* 1p Stratonavtika Earth Observation 27 June 2023

11:34:49

 Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat In orbit Stratonavtika
67 Russia TinySat* 1p In orbit
68 Russia TinySat* 1p In orbit
69 Russia TinySat* 1p In orbit
70 Russia TinySat* 2p In orbit
71 Russia TinySat* 2p In orbit
  • * Tinysat do not follow the currently recognized PocketQube Mechanical standard as they deploy from a cubesat with a rail interface and not from a dedicated MR-Fod style PocketQube deployer on a tabbed baseplate (which all other orbital pocketqubes on the list have used). This makes them a variant of the PocketQube standard.

In development
Name Type Organisation Mission Launch Date (UTC) Rocket Broker Status Remarks
Germany AQUIS 1p Space Team Aachen Technology Demonstrator TBC TBC TBC In development The satellite will contain an in-house developed propulsion system
Orbital Temple 1p Edson Pavoni and Team Art TBC TBC TBC In development Edson Pavoni talks about the Orbital Temple, the first PocketQube with artistic goals
OzQube-1 1p Picosat Systems Earth Observation TBC TBC TBC In development Team Interview
Discovery 1a 1p Quub, Inc. Camera / Photo Sat TBC TBC TBC In development Windform XT 2.0 based PocketQube testing of the shelf components for space use
UoMBSat1 1p University of Malta + University of Birmingham Technology Demonstrator + Ionospheric Sounder TBC TBC TBC In development ASTREA Website @ UoM

SERENE Website @ UoB

APRS PocketQube 1p National Chiao-Tung University APRS PocketQube for Moving Objects Tracking TBC TBC TBC In development
UBO 1p Satellite Applications Catapult Outreach TBC TBC TBC In Development http://buildubo.co.uk/build/
Myansat-1 1p Independent Outreach TBC TBC TBC In Development https://web.archive.org/web/20190115020853/http://myansat.com/
TFTQube 1p The Flame Trench Amateur TBC TBC TBC In Development https://theflametrench.com/flagship/
TBC TBC University of Zacatecas STEM TBC TBC TBC In Development https://www.research"ate.net/project/Design-and-Implementation-of-a-PocketQube-system-for-educative-purposes Archived 2013-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
LibertyQube-1 1p Liberty Life LLc Experimental TBC TBC TBC In Development https://www.libertylife-llc.com/
SatDuino 1p Technical School N° 5 of Mar Del Plata Education TBC TBC TBC In Development https://satduinot5t1.wixsite.com/satduino
BYqube-1 1p Brigham Young University Education TBC TBC TBC In Development
Pycubed-1 1p Stanford University Education TBD Alba Orbital In Development
DynOSSAT-EDU 1p BHDynamics TBC TBC TBC In Development
BS-0 1p Aerozono Space Technologies (Argentina) Earth Observation/ Technology Demonstrator TBC TBC TBC In Development https://aerozono_space.gitlab.io/aerozono-space
BeliefSat-1 2p K. J. Somaiya Institute of Engineering and Information Technology Educational mission demonstrating PocketQube technologies TBC TBC TBC In Development https://github.com/NewLeapKjsieit/BeliefSat
TQube-FO 1p TQube Amateur tracking TBD TBD TBD In development
Leopard-Sat 1 1p Wentworth Institute of Technology Experimental mission demonstrating the use of two cameras onboard TBD TBD TBD In Development https://www.notion.so/picosat/Wentworth-PicoSat-a2947a5c33a04c8d9a6e7d9849fd3605

PocketQube vs PocketQub

The PocketQube standard originally started as PocketQub.[19] This was changed in 2012 by Professor Bob Twiggs of Morehead State University. The standard is now referred to as PocketQube.

Launch

As of December 2019, the only launch brokers capable of providing launch integration for PocketQube satellites are Fossa Systems, Libre Space Foundation, Alba Orbital and GAUSS Srl.

See also

Notes
  1. Also known as T-LogoQube, MagPocketQube, Eagle-1
  2. Intended to reach orbit. Launch vehicle failed while under first stage flight on a suborbital trajectory.

References
  1. Twiggs, Bob. "Making it small" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  2. Alba Orbital
  3. "Kickstarter". Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  4. "Kickstarter, Wired UK". Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  5. "AMSAT UK". 22 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  6. "Technical details for satellite BEAKERSAT 1". N2YO.com - Real Time Satellite Tracking and Predictions. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  7. "SATVIEW - EAGLE 2 - Norad 39436U - Tracking satellites and Spacejunk in Real time". Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  8. "UBC Rocket BCIT launch". Facebook.
  9. "UBC Rocket". Facebook.
  10. "Black Tusk Launch". YouTube.
  11. "SMOG-P - NORAD 44832 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking". www.satflare.com. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  12. "ATL-1 - NORAD 44830".
  13. "FOSSASAT-1 - NORAD 44829 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking".
  14. "NOOR 1A".
  15. "NOOR 1B - NORAD 44828 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking". www.satflare.com. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  16. "TRSI - NORAD 44831 - 3D Online Satellite Tracking".
  17. "IARU Sat Coordinator". www.amsatuk.me.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  18. "IARU Sat Coordinator". www.amsatuk.me.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  19. "Standard". Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
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