# An Overview of CubeSat Missions and Applications
###### Abstract
Although the initial CubeSats were mostly custom-designed and custom-built platforms, their success over the past two decades has led to the establishment of numerous companies specializing in CubeSat manufacturing and integration. These companies provide a wide array of standardized and qualified Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) CubeSat platform solutions, complete with structural, electrical power, communications, attitude and orbit control, onboard data handling subsystems, as well as various payload solutions such as imagers, spectrometers, laser-optical communication terminals, radiofrequency amplifiers, antennas, etc. Notable examples of CubeSat manufacturing and integration companies include NanoAvionics (Vilnius, Lithuania), GomSpace (Aalborg, Denmark), ISISPACE (Delft, The Netherlands), EnduroSat (Sofia, Bulgaria), TERRAN ORBITAL (Irvine, CA, USA), AAC Clyde Space (Uppsala, Sweden), Spire Global (Vienna, VA, USA), and SPUTNIX LLC (Moscow, Russia). Moreover, manufacturers that specialize in satellite payload manufacturing such as antennas, imagers, and scientific instruments are also active in the domain of CubeSat payload manufacturing, with notable examples being Simera Sence (Leuven, Belgium), Thoth Technology (Deep River, ON, Canada), Triad RF Systems (East Brunswick, NJ, USA), Test-Spacecom GmbH (Backnang, Germany), Astrolight (Vilnius, Lithuania), etc. Among COTS CubeSat solutions, a high degree of versatility and modular  
Figure 3: An illustration of the subsystem layout of the CubeSat UPSat. “Adapted from Ampatzoglou and Kostopoulos, International Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 2018, Article ID 9724263, licensed under CC BY 4.0” [10]. ity is a notable characteristic, as such products allow for easy subsystem reconfiguration and the integration of different subsystems and payloads on the main structural platform of the satellite, allowing for a variety of missions to be realized. Furthermore, the use of common structural architectures and communication standards also sometimes allows for the combination of systems COTS from different providers into a single satellite platform. In recent years, some of the leaders of the aerospace industry, as well as several space agencies around the world, have acknowledged the utility of CubeSats as cost-effective solutions for space exploration and technology demonstration and have been incorporating them in several important missions. A notable example in that regard is the slate of ten CubeSats that were launched as secondary payloads of the Artemis I mission on 16 November 2021, which were developed through the collaboration of various institutions, companies, and space agencies, each tasked with performing important scientific missions and milestones [11], or NASA's Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS), which is a constellation of Earth science CubeSat platforms that perform weather-related atmospheric measurements [12]. NASA's understanding of CubeSat utility is further demonstrated by the Planetary Science Deep Space SmallSat Studies (PSDS3) program, which aimed to accelerate the development of selected mission concepts utilizing CubeSats and other small-satellite platforms for space exploration [13]. It is evident that although the first CubeSats were mostly custom-made technology demonstration platforms, they have rapidly evolved into mature, mission-enabling systems capable of undertaking a wide range of space activities, including Earth observation, telecommunications, astronomical research, planetary exploration, and advanced technology validation. As their capabilities expand, CubeSats are increasingly being integrated into complex mission architectures involving autonomous formation flying and active debris mitigation [14; 15]. This transformation reflects not only their growing technical maturity, but also the increasing scale and coordination demands of modern space operations, such as satellite constellations and deep-space navigation.