![]() The CuSP Team delivers the Cubesat to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Shown are (left to right) Mike Epperly, Project Manager, Don George, Mission Engineer, and Chad Loeffler, Flight Software Engineer. | |
Names | CuSP |
---|---|
Mission type | Technology demonstration, reconnaissance, Space Weather |
Operator | Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) |
Mission duration | 81 minutes 6 seconds |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | CubeSat |
Spacecraft type | 6U CubeSat |
Bus | SwRI Custom Design |
Manufacturer | Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) |
Launch mass | 10.2 kg (22 lb) |
Dimensions | 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm |
Power | 45.46 watts |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 16 November 2022, 06:47:44 UTC [1] |
Rocket | SLS Block 1 |
Launch site | KSC, LC-39B |
Contractor | NASA |
End of mission | |
Last contact | 16 November 2022 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Heliocentric orbit |
Flyby of Moon | |
Instruments | |
Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SIS) Miniaturized Electron and Proton Telescope (MERiT) Vector Helium Magnetometer (VHM) | |
CubeSat for Solar Particles (CuSP) was a low-cost 6U CubeSat to orbit the Sun to study the dynamic particles and magnetic fields. [2] [3] The principal investigator for CuSP is Mihir Desai, at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas. [2] It was launched on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), as a secondary payload of the Artemis 1 mission on 16 November 2022. [1] [4]
Following deployment from the Artemis launch adaptor, contact with the spacecraft showed that it successfully stabilized and deployed its solar arrays, but contact was long after about an hour. [5]
Measuring space weather that can create a wide variety of effects at Earth, from interfering with radio communications to tripping up satellite electronics to creating electric currents in power grids, is of importance. To create a network of space weather stations would require many instruments scattered throughout space millions of miles apart, but the cost of such a system is prohibitive. [2] Though the CubeSats can only carry a few instruments, they are relatively inexpensive to launch because of their small mass and standardized design. Thus, CuSP also was intended as a test for creating a network of space science stations. [2]
CuSP Spacecraft Team: [6]
Dr. Mihir Desai, PhD: Principal Investigator
Mike Epperly: Project Manager
Dr. Don George, PhD: Mission System Engineer
Chad Loeffler: Flight Software Engineer
Raymond Doty: Spacecraft Technician
Dr. Frederic Allegrini, PhD: SIS Instrument Lead
Dr. Neil Murphy, PhD: VHM Instrument Lead
Dr. Shrikanth Kanekal, PhD, MERiT Instrument Lead
This CubeSat carried three scientific instruments: [2] [3]
The satellite features a cold gas thruster system for propulsion, attitude control (orientation) and orbital maneuvering. [7]
The spacecraft's bus consisted of: [6]
The 10 CubeSats flying in the Artemis 1 mission
![]() The CuSP Team delivers the Cubesat to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Shown are (left to right) Mike Epperly, Project Manager, Don George, Mission Engineer, and Chad Loeffler, Flight Software Engineer. | |
Names | CuSP |
---|---|
Mission type | Technology demonstration, reconnaissance, Space Weather |
Operator | Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) |
Mission duration | 81 minutes 6 seconds |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | CubeSat |
Spacecraft type | 6U CubeSat |
Bus | SwRI Custom Design |
Manufacturer | Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) |
Launch mass | 10.2 kg (22 lb) |
Dimensions | 10 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm |
Power | 45.46 watts |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 16 November 2022, 06:47:44 UTC [1] |
Rocket | SLS Block 1 |
Launch site | KSC, LC-39B |
Contractor | NASA |
End of mission | |
Last contact | 16 November 2022 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Heliocentric orbit |
Flyby of Moon | |
Instruments | |
Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SIS) Miniaturized Electron and Proton Telescope (MERiT) Vector Helium Magnetometer (VHM) | |
CubeSat for Solar Particles (CuSP) was a low-cost 6U CubeSat to orbit the Sun to study the dynamic particles and magnetic fields. [2] [3] The principal investigator for CuSP is Mihir Desai, at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas. [2] It was launched on the maiden flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), as a secondary payload of the Artemis 1 mission on 16 November 2022. [1] [4]
Following deployment from the Artemis launch adaptor, contact with the spacecraft showed that it successfully stabilized and deployed its solar arrays, but contact was long after about an hour. [5]
Measuring space weather that can create a wide variety of effects at Earth, from interfering with radio communications to tripping up satellite electronics to creating electric currents in power grids, is of importance. To create a network of space weather stations would require many instruments scattered throughout space millions of miles apart, but the cost of such a system is prohibitive. [2] Though the CubeSats can only carry a few instruments, they are relatively inexpensive to launch because of their small mass and standardized design. Thus, CuSP also was intended as a test for creating a network of space science stations. [2]
CuSP Spacecraft Team: [6]
Dr. Mihir Desai, PhD: Principal Investigator
Mike Epperly: Project Manager
Dr. Don George, PhD: Mission System Engineer
Chad Loeffler: Flight Software Engineer
Raymond Doty: Spacecraft Technician
Dr. Frederic Allegrini, PhD: SIS Instrument Lead
Dr. Neil Murphy, PhD: VHM Instrument Lead
Dr. Shrikanth Kanekal, PhD, MERiT Instrument Lead
This CubeSat carried three scientific instruments: [2] [3]
The satellite features a cold gas thruster system for propulsion, attitude control (orientation) and orbital maneuvering. [7]
The spacecraft's bus consisted of: [6]
The 10 CubeSats flying in the Artemis 1 mission