# An Overview of CubeSat Missions and Applications
## 2 The Success of CubeSats and Its Enabling Factors
### Support from Space Agencies and Research Institutions  
Space agencies, having understood the significance of CubeSats and the ability of such platforms to perform even more complex scientific missions for a fraction of the design, assembly, and integration cost of larger traditional satellite platforms, have launched design facilitation programs through which they select CubeSat mission proposals which then receive financial and technical support in order to materialize. One such notable example is NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CLSI), a program via which CubeSats built by US educational institutions and non-profit organizations are selected and provided with a free launch service. So far, more than 200 CubeSat missions from more than 100 different organizations have been selected through the CubeSat Launch Initiative [33]. In a similar manner, the European Space Agency (ESA), through the Fly Your Satellite program, allows university and other tertiary education student teams to develop and fly their CubeSat or PocketQube satellite. Through the Fly Your Satellite program, the selected student teams have access to training courses provided by ESA in order to improve the design of their satellite, access to the agency's cleanroom laboratory and CubeSat test facilities for assembly,  
Figure 5: (**a**) The Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE) CubeSat next to its PolytoSatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD) Dispenser. “Image by CSSWE at English Wikipedia. Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license” [31]. (**b**) An example of a PC/104 board. Cropped version of the original image by Vocaro at English Wikipedia [32]. integration, and testing, and eventually, a satellite launch opportunity. Furthermore, after orbital insertion, ESA aids the selected teams during the satellite's operational phase and will share mission data as well as technical or scientific results [34]. NASA has also offered the Small, Innovative Missions for PLanetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) [35] and Planetary Science Deep Space SmallSat Studies (PSDS3) [13] programs, through which planetary and other deep space exploration mission concepts utilizing CubeSat and other types of small spacecraft platforms were selected and received developmental funding. Another example of a program that provides CubeSat manufacturers and operators with opportunities is the flight ticket initiative which has been established by the collaboration between the European Commission and ESA with the goal of providing European institutions and companies with the opportunity of launching their flight-ready satellite. These flight opportunities are awarded in a competitive manner and are aimed at satellite missions that have the goal of In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) or In-Orbit Validation (IOV) of state-of-the-art technologies and operational concepts with applications in fields such as Earth observation, Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT), Space Situational Awareness (SSA), Satellite telecommunication technologies, as well as space science [36; 37]. In a similar manner, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) features the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program which is aimed at facilitating the development and launch of microsatellites and CubeSats, which are developed by research and educational institutions, as well as by commercial companies [38]. In Russia, the Space-\(\tau\) initiative, part of the broader \"Planet Sentinel\" program and supported by the Innovation Promotion Fund, enables school and university students to develop CubeSats in collaboration with research institutions and commercial satellite developers. With more than 45 satellites launched and thousands of students engaged, Space-\(\tau\) provides access to design resources, integration support, and opportunities for in-orbit experimentation, with missions such as UmKA-1 and Geoscan-Edelveis demonstrating its educational and technological impact [39].