The University of Luxembourg is poised to etch its name in space history as it prepares to launch its first-ever satellite, POQUITO, on 14 January 2025.
The miniature satellite, about the size of a Rubik’s Cube and weighing as little as a small apple, will take off aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket during the Transporter 12 mission, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The team at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability, and Trust (SnT) spent less than a year developing the project. The fact that Low Earth Orbit is becoming an increasingly crowded space, makes the size of PocketQube for In-Orbit Technology Operations (POQUITO) significant. NASA estimates that more than 128 million pieces of human-made debris such as spacecraft fragments or retired satellites compete for space in this orbit.
Scientists are only able to track the largest pieces (greater than 10 centimetres in diameter and estimated to total around 34,000).
“It’s like having a small car that still has to perform as well as a large traditional car.”
Vittorio Franzese, Postdoctoral researcher and team leader of the POQUITO satellite mission
Testing compact data transmission
The current mission will test compact data transmission methods between POQUITO and Chipsat, an even smaller satellite of the University next to it, roughly the size of a credit card. In other words, imagine two satellites transmitting data using light, emitted by small LEDs. The POQUITO satellite will send the data to a mission control center at the university via an antenna, allowing engineers to validate the system’s performance.
The mission will be inserted into a low-Earth orbit to lower risks of collision with other satellites and assure a three-year re-entry, in line with the Luxembourg Space Agency strategy for sustainability.
“A big element to sustainability in space is, how can we make sure that future space missions do not produce space debris, and how can we avoid that generation?” said Prof Andreas Hein, Head of Space Systems Engineering team (SpaSys) at SnT.
Challenges of scaling down
Miniaturisation is technically challenging. No components on the PocketQube can be redundant and power is limited because of smaller solar panels, which means the calculations must be extremely accurate to operate the satellite. “It’s like having a small car that still has to perform as well as a large traditional car,” explained Vittorio Franzese, a Postdoctoral researcher and team leader of the POQUITO satellite mission.
There are also advantages. “You can be really quick and agile developing the spacecraft because you can procure parts very quickly,” said Franzese. To underline the point, the team compressed what would have been a lengthy multi-phase review process and secured satellite qualification within a year. This meant they could deliver POQUITO to Alba Orbital, their launch deployer, by July 2024.
By scaling down the satellite’s size, the team was also able to shrink costs. Prof Hein compared the price range to a “slightly more expensive car”. Commercial cubesats, meanwhile, cost several hundred thousand euros to build and deploy.
Attracting space talent
The research, which was funded entirely by the University of Luxembourg, boosts the appeal of the higher education university, which was founded in 2003, by offering a training platform for students and researchers and providing them with invaluable hands-on experience in satellite development, testing, and mission control.
It may also serve to attract and retain talent to Luxembourg, which has had a significant stake in space since creating a Space Resources Initiative in 2016. According to the Luxembourg Space Agency, today Luxembourg counts 80 space companies and institutions active in Earth observation, in-space manufacture, and robotics, among others. The public can watch the Transporter 12 rideshare mission launch on YouTube.
