# An Overview of CubeSat Missions and Applications
## 4 The Use of CubeSats as Telecommunication and Asset-Monitoring Platforms
### Radio Communication CubeSat Technologies
ISARA involved the launch of a 3U CubeSat equipped with the first ever high-gain reflectarray antenna for a CubeSat platform. This antenna operated in the Ka-band and enabled the satellite in achieving data transmission rates in the order of 100 Mbps. The successful demonstration of ISARA's reflectarray antenna paved the way for the execution of the first ever interplanetary CubeSat mission, Mars Cube One (MarCO) [135; 136]. Moreover, CubeSat platforms have also been utilized in test missions aimed at the evaluation of different radio frequencies for future applications. One such example was the W-Cube mission which utilized a 3U CubeSat that would be used to test the feasibility of using W-band frequencies for space-based telecommunications and collected data that will be used to update the existing atmospheric radio frequency channel propagation models and improve their accuracy past the 40 GHz mark [137]. The advances made through technology and concept demonstration missions such as the aforementioned ones have facilitated the development of miniaturized communication hardware and have eventually led to a series of mature, high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) solutions and the eventual development of relevant commercial products. In the last decade, a variety of CubeSat manufacturing companies including GomSpace [138], ISISPACE [139], Space Inventor (Aalborg, Denmark) [140], NanoAvionics [141], and AAC \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Band Designation** & **Frequency Spectrum** \\ \hline HF & 3–30 MHz \\ VHF & 30–300 MHz \\ UHF & 300–1000 MHz \\ L-band & 1–2 GHz \\ S-band & 2–4 GHz \\ C-band & 4–8 GHz \\ Ku-band & 12–18 GHz \\ K-band & 18–27 GHz \\ Ka-band & 27–40 GHz \\ V-band & 40–75 GHz \\ W-band & 75–110 GHz \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: The radio frequency band designation according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) [131]. Clyde Space [142], among multiple others, offer complete solutions with regards to radio communication by providing their customers with various types of transceivers, antennas, and amplifiers specifically designed to be accommodated by CubeSat platforms of various sizes. Furthermore, there are also multiple commercial providers that specialize in the development of space communications hardware for CubeSats and other nanosatellites such as Cubecom (Stellenbosch, South Africa) and Anywaves (Toulouse, France) [143; 144]. It should be noted that these examples of radio communication enabling equipment are of course utilized not only by telecommunication CubeSats in the role of their mission-enabling payloads, but practically by all other types of CubeSat also, as a means by which to transmit their mission specific data towards their operators and for telemetry, tracking, and control purposes. In terms of commercial applications, one of the most prominent examples of the utility of telecommunication CubeSats is for the creation of constellations that will provide global Non-Terrestrial (NT) 5G Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity coverage. Such communication networks operate based on certain mobile telecommunication standards and protocols encompassed by the 3 rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP). These types of CubeSat constellations are expected to provide global connectivity services that will complement terrestrial telecommunication networks by providing coverage even to remote areas of the planet such as oceans, deserts, large forests, polar, and near-polar regions, which would otherwise be near-impossible to cover. These connectivity services will then be able to be utilized for a variety of applications which include real-time asset tracking and monitoring for cars, trains, aircraft, ships, etc. In the energy sector, IoT services can be utilized for real-time energy generation and consumption tracking, as well as for equipment and infrastructure health and status monitoring, while also enabling the execution of smart-grid strategies that would lead to optimized electrical energy usage.