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Achieving Science with CubeSats Thinking Inside the Box (2016) / Chapter Skim
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7 Conclusions and Future Program Recommendations
Pages 83-90

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From page 83...
... The industry supporting CubeSat components and technologies is also growing and taking advantage of the increased market size by designing and selling CubeSat and small spacecraft buses, subsystems, and ground station services. These commercial firms are now major drivers of development in technologies such as attitude control and propulsion, as well as subsystems such as power boards and communication systems standardized to the CubeSat form factor.
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From page 84...
... However, the following list, restated from Chapter 4, provides a sampling of high-priority science goals that could potentially be pursued using CubeSats: • Solar and space physics, Earth science and applications from space -- Exploration of Earth's atmospheric boundary region. CubeSats are uniquely suited because of their expendability to explore the scientific processes that shape the upper atmospheric boundary using short-lifetime, low-altitude orbits.
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From page 85...
... should continue to support the existing CubeSat program, provide secure funding on a multiyear basis, and continue to focus on high-priority science and the training of the next generation of scientists and engineers. In particular, NSF should consider ways to increase CubeSat opportunities for a broad range of science disciplines going beyond solar and space physics, ­ with financial support from those participating disciplines.
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From page 86...
... Recommendation: NASA should develop centralized management of the agency's CubeSat programs for science and science-enabling technology that is in coordination with all directorates involved in CubeSat missions and programs, to allow for more efficient and tailored development processes to create easier interfaces for CubeSat science investigators; provide more consistency to the integration, test, and launch efforts; and provide a clearinghouse for CubeSat technology, vendor information, and lessons learned. The management structure should use a lower-cost and streamlined oversight approach that is also agile for diverse science observation requirements and evolutionary technology advances.
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From page 87...
... Recommendation: NASA and other relevant agencies should invest in technology development programs in four areas that the committee believes will have the largest impact on science missions: high-bandwidth communications, precision attitude control, propulsion, and the development of miniaturized instrument technology. To maximize their impact, such investments should be competitively awarded across the community and take into account coordination across different agencies and directorates, including NASA's Science Mission Directorate and Space Technology Mission Directorate, and between different NASA and ­ Department of Defense centers.
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From page 88...
... If applied improperly and without consideration of the short development cycle, low costs, and rapid increase in the number of commercial, technology, and science CubeSats, such policy constraints could have a chilling effect on the scientific and technology return of CubeSats. The committee focused principally on three policy issues that have the potential to limit the applicability of CubeSats for science -- orbital debris, communications and frequency allocations, and launch availability -- ­ including, in particular, regulatory framework.
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From page 89...
... Recommendation: NASA, with the National Science Foundation, and in coordination with other relevant federal agencies, should consider conducting a review and developing a plan to address CubeSat-related policies to maximize the potential of CubeSats as a science tool. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following: guidelines and regulations regarding CubeSat maneuverability, tracking, and end-of-mission deorbit; the education of the growing CubeSat community about orbital debris and spectrum-licensing regulatory requirements; and the continued availability of low-cost CubeSat launch capabilities.
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Key Terms

  • earth science
  • space physics
  • cubesat technology
  • science missions
  • orbital debris

  • management structure
  • science platform
  • development cycle
  • decadal survey
  • disruptive innovations

  • attitude control
  • science mission
  • cubesat programs
  • cubesat community
  • planetary science

  • science disciplines
  • technology advances
  • earth processes
  • instrument technology
  • near earth

  • earth orbit
  • low earth
  • affordable launch
  • mission directorate
  • precision attitude

  • spacecraft buses
  • atmospheric boundary
  • miniaturized instrument
  • short development
  • taking advantage


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