NASA Small Spacecraft Launch Overview for 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant hardship to several industries, communities, and individuals. Like many, the small spacecraft (SmallSat) community was affected from both personal and professional standpoints. Supply chains, development, and launch schedules all experienced impacts over the past two years and even today, some continue to encounter setbacks. Despite these immense challenges, NASA and its partners persevered and made momentous progress toward achieving NASA’s goals in the advancement of exploration, science, and technology. The contributions include those made by the SmallSat community engaged in advancing the capability and utility of SmallSats as well as those using the platform to serve science.  

Over the past several years, investments in small spacecraft have continued to increase across NASA. The development and launch of state-of-the-art SmallSat technologies and the achievement of ground-breaking science using the platform are increasing with pace. So far this year, 11 NASA SmallSat missions have launched, including CAPSTONE, the first SmallSat to use the ballistic lunar transfer approach to reach the Moon. Another 22 SmallSats are scheduled to launch by the end of 2022, including the CubeSat secondary payloads scheduled for launch on the highly anticipated Artemis-I mission.

A collection and brief summary of the NASA SmallSat missions launched or anticipated  to launch in 2022 are listed below. This collection is categorized by respective NASA mission directorates and by the programs and divisions that sponsored each SmallSat mission.

Science Mission Directorate (SMD)

Heliophysics Division

• AERO (Auroral Emission Radio Observer) and VISTA (Vector Interferometry Space Technology with AERO) mission: The AERO and VISTA joint 6U-mission will advance our ability to perform radio interferometry using CubeSats in space, enhancing our knowledge by examining radio emissions from the auroral acceleration region in near-Earth space. AERO and VISTA are expected to launch between the end of 2022 and early 2023.
• CUSP (CubeSat for Solar Particles): This 6U CubeSat mission will orbit the Sun and measure incoming radiation that can create a wide variety of effects at Earth. CUSP is an Artemis-I secondary payload that is expected to launch mid/late-2022.
• PETITSAT (Plasma Enhancements in The Ionosphere-Thermosphere Satellite): This is a 6U CubeSat mission to study the link between Medium-Scale Traveling Ionosphere Disturbances (MSTIDS), also referred to as electro-buoyancy waves and plasma enhancements, to determine conditions under which MSTIDS generate large plasma enhancements. The expected launch for PETITSAT is in mid/end-2022.
• REAL (Relativistic Electron Atmospheric Loss): The REAL 3U CubeSat mission will characterize different modes of atmospheric loss by making high time resolution measurements of the electron pitch angle and energy distributions over a wide energy range. This will improve our understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for scattering radiation belt electrons into the atmosphere. REAL is slated to launch in mid/end-2022.
• SPORT (Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task): SPORT is a 6U CubeSat mission that will explore and track space weather in the ionosphere, where Earth’s weather meets space weather in the upper atmosphere. This mission is expected to launch in mid/end-2022.

Earth Science Division (ESD)

• CTIM-FD (Compact Thermal Irradiance Monitor-Flight Demonstration): This 6U CubeSat will demonstrate if SmallSats can be as effective at measuring total solar irradiance (TSI) as larger sensors, like the total irradiance monitor (TIM) instrument used aboard the SORCE and TSIS-1 missions. The CTIM-FD spacecraft was launched July 2, 2022.
• NACHOS-2 (Nanosat Atmospheric Chemistry Hyperspectral Observation System): The NACHO mission will allow scientists to detect, map, and quantify Earth’s dilute trace gases more easily, which is critical for learning more about everything from volcanology to climate change. The NACHOS-2 CubeSat launched directly into orbit July 2, 2022. The NACHOS-1 CubeSat launched February 2022 and was deployed June 30, 2022.
• SNooPI (SigNals of Opportunity P-band Investigation): This 6U mission will demonstrate a new, highly promising technique to measure soil moisture from space that can provide vital information for early flood and drought warnings, and crop-yield forecasts. SNooPi is expected to launch mid/late-2022.

Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP)

• TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of SmallSats): This mission aims to use a constellation of 3U CubeSats to provide improved time-resolved observations of tropical cyclones compared to traditional observing methods. While the TOPICS pathfinder CubeSat launched successfully in 2021, the TROPICS-1 mission with two TROPICS CubeSats, launched on July 12, 2022, though never reached orbit due to failure in the upper stage of the rocket. The next TROPICS mission (TROPICS-2) with two more CubeSats is scheduled to launch in later in 2022.

Astrophysics Division (APD)

• BurstCube: This mission will use a 6U CubeSat to automatically detect gamma-ray transients onboard (astrophysical, solar, and terrestrial), sending rapid alerts to the ground to enable follow-up observations. The expected launch is in mid/late-2022.

Planetary Science Division (PSD)

• JANUS: This mission will send two, identical SmallSats into the main asteroid belt to perform a fly by around different binary asteroids and image the asteroid with visible and infrared cameras. JANUS is aimed to launch in mid/late-2022.
• LUNAH-MAP (Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper): This 6U CubeSat mission is designed to orbit the Moon and determine the amount of water ice in the permanently shadowed lunar polar craters. The anticipated launch is mid/late-2022 on Artemis-I.

Science Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)

Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) Program

• ACS3 (Advanced Composite Solar Sail System): The primary objective of the ACS3 mission is to demonstrate the successful deployment of the composite boom solar sail in low-Earth orbit from a 12U CubeSat. ACS3 is expected launch is late-2022.
• CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment): A demonstration mission, this 12U CubeSat will verify the dynamics of a near rectiliniear halo orbit around the Moon for at least six months. CAPSTONE will also demonstrate spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation. CAPSTONE launched June 28, 2022.
• CLICK A (CubeSat Laser Infrared CrosslinK A): The first of two 3U missions, CLICK A will test elements of an optical (laser) communications technology and demonstrate the fine steering mirror control system’s high precision pointing performance. CLICK A launched July 14, 2022. The CLICK B/C mission is slated for launch in late 2023.
• CPOD (CubeSat Proximity Operations Demonstration): CPOD will demonstrate rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking (RPOD) using two CubeSats. The docking will employ the use of a novel universal docking device, imaging sensors, and a multi-thruster cold gas propulsion system. CPOD launched May 25, 2022.
• PTD-3 (Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3) TBIRD: This 6U CubeSat carries the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) system that will demonstrate high-data-rate capabilities of a laser communications system from a CubeSat in low-Earth orbit. The communication system is intended to achieve an unprecedented 200 gigabit per second data downlink rate.  PTD-TBIRD launched May 25, 2022.
• STARLING: This mission will demonstrate technologies to enable multipoint science data collection by several small spacecraft flying in swarms. The six-month mission will use four 3U CubeSats in low-Earth orbit to test four technologies that let spacecraft operate in a synchronized manner without resources from the ground. Starling is expected launch late-2022.
• TechEdSat-13 (TES 13): The latest TES CubeSat features an Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning (AI/ML) subsystem with an Intel Loihi neuromorphic processor that mimics the function of the human brain. TechEdSat-13 will run the first orbital flight tests of this chip and the AI/ML subsystem setting the stage for many different science and engineering applications of AI/ML for space platforms in the future. TES-13 launched in January 2022.       

Tipping Point Announcement for Partnerships

• COURIER SEP DEMO: This mission will demonstrate an electric propulsion module, a halo hall-effect thruster, packaged in 1/4U volume, and will demonstrate the SEP system by spiraling to 800 km from a drop-off orbit of 400 km and then deorbiting. The complete system includes its Halo micro hall-effect thruster, propellant distribution, power processing unit and deployable solar arrays. This mission is expected to launch in mid/late-2022.
• DUPLEX (Dual Propulsion Experiment): This 6U mission will test two micropropulsion technologies developed by CU Aerospace in low-Earth orbit to provide flight heritage for these innovative new thruster systems. The thruster systems are the Fiber-fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster (FPPT), which will use solid Teflon propellant, and the Monofilament Vaporization Propulsion (MVP), which consumes an inert polymer propellant fiber. The mission is expected to launch in late-2022.

Prizes, Challenges and Crowdsourcing

• TEAM MILES: This project was developed as part of NASA’s Cube Quest Challenge. The 6U CubeSat will demonstrate navigation in deep space using innovative ion plasma thrusters, ConstantQ Model H, using ionized iodine as propellant. It will also test a software-defined radio, USRP B200mini designed by Ettus Research, operating in the S-band for communications from about 4 million kilometers from Earth. This mission is expected to launch in mid/late-2022 onboard Artemis-I.

Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD)

• BIOSENTINEL: The BioSentinel 6U CubeSat mission will enter into a heliocentric orbit  and characterize the biological radiation effects on yeast using a biosensor instrument. BioSentinel is expected to launch mid/late-2022 onboard Artemis-I.
• LUNAR ICECUBE: This 6U CubeSat mission will study the distribution of water and organic volatiles on the Moon from lunar orbit. It will enable our understanding of lunar volatile dynamics and their evolutionary origin. The mission is expected to launch in mid/late-2022 onboard Artemis-I.
• LunIR: This 6U CubeSat mission from Lockheed Martin Corporation will perform a lunar flyby, collecting spectroscopy and thermography for surface characterization, remote sensing, and site selection. This mssion is expected to launch in mid/late-2022 onboard Artemis-I.
• NEA (Near-Earth-Asteroid) SCOUT: This 6U CubeSat demonstration mission will flyby an asteroid using solar sail propulsion and will map and observe its properties for further understanding. The expected launch is mid/late-2022 onboard Artemis-I.

Office of the Chief Technologist

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s Internal Research and Development (IRAD)

• GPX2: This is a technology demonstration mission of a 3U CubeSat to evaluate the performance of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) GPS receivers, IRIDIUM Short-Burst Data command/telemetry communication architecture, and the pioneering use of a composite additive-manufactured Windform XT 2.0 chassis for the 3U form factor CubeSat. GPX2 launched July 2, 2022.
• R5-S1: This mission aimed to demonstrate a fast and cost-effective way to build successful CubeSats and demonstrate technologies important to in-space inspection, facilitating crewed space exploration safer and more efficient. R5-S1 launched in February 2022 on ELaNa 41, however a launch failure was experienced and R5-S1 did not achieve orbit. The next two of the R5 series, R5-S2 and R5-S3, are preparing for launch in the near future.