PocketQube

 ( Satellites By Type ) 

A PocketQube is a type of miniaturized satellite for space research that usually has a size of cube with 5 cm sides (one eighth the volume of a CubeSat), has a mass of no more than 250 , and typically uses commercial off-the-shelf components for its electronics.

Beginning in 2009, Morehead State University (MSU) and Kentucky Space developed the PocketQube specifications to help universities worldwide to perform space science and exploration. While the bulk of development comes from academia, several companies build PocketQubes, such as Fossa Systems and Alba Orbital. Alba Orbital PocketQube projects have even been the subject of Kickstarter campaigns. The PocketQube format is also popular with amateur radio satellite builders.

---

Design The PocketQube specification accomplishes several high-level goals. Simplification makes it possible to design and produce a workable satellite at low cost. Encapsulation of the launcher-payload interface takes away the prohibitive amount of managerial work previously required for mating a piggyback satellite with its launcher. Unification among payloads and launchers enables quick exchanges of payloads and utilization of launch opportunities on short notice. PocketQube is similar to CubeSat in this regard.

The standard was first proposed by Bob Twiggs of Morehead State University, and the intention was for a satellite which could fit in a pocket, hence the name PocketQube.

---

Workshops The first US workshop was held at NASA Ames and at Cape Canaveral in April 2014. There was a three-year gap until the next PocketQube workshop was held at TU Delft in The Netherlands in March 2017. The third workshop took place also at TU Delft in March 2018, with 22 presentations and 70 attendees. This is now an annual event for the PocketQube development community. In 2023 it was rebranded to the PocketQube conference to reflect the growth in the PocketQube community. It is held annually at the Glasgow University Union (GUU), in Glasgow, Scotland.

---

Launched Listed in ascending order by launch date.

Indicates low altitude launch.

1	target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Beakersat-1	2.5p	Morehead State University, Sonoma State University	Teaching Tool	2013-11-21, 07:11	Dnepr		GAUSS	Decay: 2019-2-13
2	$50Sat (Eagle-2)	1.5p	Amateur Group	Amateur Mission					Decay: 2018-5-18
3	QubeScout-S1	2.5p	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	Sensor/dynamic attitude experiments
4	WREN	1p	Stadoko UG	Tech demo, Camera SSTV, 3 Axis Reaction Wheel and pp Thrusters
	Astria	5p	BCIT Satellite Launch Program	Test structural feasibility at 30,000 feet for new design	2018-6-21	UBC Black Tusk		UBC	Suborbital: 2018-6-21
	TQube	1p	Amateur	Insulation testing and recording of structural dynamics	2019-10-11, 18:37	Neutron		TQube	Suborbital: 2019-10-11
5	SMOG-P	1p	Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary	Measurement of the radio spectrum in the UHF TV band	2019-12-6, 08:18	Electron		Alba Orbital	Decay: 2020-09-28
6	ATL-1	2p	Advanced Technology of Laser	Test a new thermal isolation material in space					Decay: 2020-10-9
7	FossaSat-1	1p	Fossa Systems	LoRa Demonstration & Deployable solar panels.					Decay: 2020-10-28
8	Noor 1a (Unicorn-2b)	3p	Stara Space	Experimental					Decay: 2020-12-29
9	Noor 1b (Unicorn-2c)	3p	Stara Space	Experimental					Decay: 2020-04-7
10	TRSI	1p	TRSI Club	Amateur, testing novel receiver					Decay: 2020-10-13
11	DIY-1 / ARDUIQUBE	1p	DIYSATELLITE	Technology Demonstrator	2021-3-22, 06:07:12	Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat		GAUSS
12	STECCO	6p	School of Aerospace Engineering of Sapienza University of Rome	Laser Ranging
13	SMOG-1	1p	Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary	Measurement of the radio spectrum in the UHF TV band
	MDQube SAT-1 prototype	1.25p	Innova Space	Technology demonstration	2021-6-11	Aventura I-e2		TLON Space	Suborbital: 2021-6-11
14	GENESIS N	1.5p	AMSAT EA	Amateur Radio / Thruster Experiment	2021-9-3, 01:59	Firefly Alpha		FOSSA System / Libre Space Foundation	Suborbital: 2021-9-3
15	GENESIS L	1.5p	AMSAT EA	Amateur Radio / Thruster Experiment
16	QUBIK 1	1p	Libre Space Foundation	Amateur Radio / Technology Demonstrator
17	QUBIK 2	1p	Libre Space Foundation	Amateur Radio / Technology Demonstrator
18	FOSSASAT 1b	1p	Fossa Systems	LoRa Demonstration
19	FOSSASAT 2	2p	Fossa Systems	LoRa Demonstration
20	Unicorn 1	2p	Alba Orbital	Inter-sat link	2022-1-13, 15:25	Falcon 9		Alba Orbital / Exolaunch
21	Unicorn 2A	3p	Alba Orbital	Earth observation
22	Unicorn 2D	3p	Alba Orbital	Earth observation
23	Unicorn 2E	3p	Alba Orbital	Earth observation
24	Unicorn 2TA1	1p	Carnegie Mellon University	Earth observation
25	Delfi-PQ	3p	Delft University of Technology	IoT
26	Hades	1.5p	AMSAT EA	Amateur radio
27	EASAT-2	1.5p	AMSAT EA	Amateur radio / Science
28	Sattla-2A	2p	Ariel University	Education
29	Sattla-2B	2p	Ariel University	Education
30	PION-BR1	1p	PION Labs	Technology Demonstrator
31	MDQube-SAT1	2p	Innova Space	Technology Demonstrator
32	Grizu-263a	1p	Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University	Technology Demonstrator
33	Challenger	3p	Quub / Intuidex	Technology Demonstrator				FOSSA Systems / Exolaunch
34	SanoSat-1	1p	Orion Space	Technology Demonstrator
35	WISeSAT-1 (FOSSASAT-2E1)	2p	WISeKey	IoT
36	WISeSAT-2 (FOSSASAT-2E2)	2p	WISeKey	IoT
37	CShark Pilot 1 (FOSSASAT-2E3)	2p	CShark	IoT
38	Laika (FOSSASAT-2E4)	2p	Porkchop	Technology Demonstrator
39	FOSSASAT-2E5	2p	FOSSA Systems	IoT
40	FOSSASAT-2E6	2p	FOSSA Systems	IoT
41	Unicorn-2F	3p	Alba Orbital	Earth observation	2022-5-2, 22:49	Electron		Alba Orbital
42	TRSI-2	1p	TRSI Club	Amateur radio
43	TRSI-3	1p	TRSI Club	Amateur radio
44	MyRadar	1p	ACME AtronOmatic	Experimental
45	FOSSASAT-2E7	2p	FOSSA Systems	IoT / Earth Exploration	2022-5-25, 18:35	Falcon 9		FOSSA Systems / Momentus
46	FOSSASAT-2E8	2p	FOSSA Systems	IoT / Earth Exploration
47	FOSSASAT-2E9	2p	FOSSA Systems	IoT / Earth Exploration
48	FOSSASAT-2E10	2p	FOSSA Systems	IoT / Earth Exploration
49	FOSSASAT-2E11	2p	FOSSA Systems	IoT / Earth Exploration
50	FOSSASAT-2E12	2p	FOSSA Systems	IoT / Earth Exploration
51	FOSSASAT-2E13	2p	FOSSA Systems	IoT / Earth Exploration
52	Canary Hatchling	1p	CareWeather	Demonstrator
53	FOSSASAT-1B	1p	FOSSA Systems	IoT	2022-10-1, 07:01	Firefly Alpha		Libre Space Foundation	Decay: 2022-10-3
54	GENESIS-G/ASTROLAND-1	1.5p	AMSAT EA	Amateur Radio					Decay: 2022-10-3
55	GENESIS-J/ASTROLAND-2	1.5p	AMSAT EA	Amateur Radio					Decay: 2022-10-3
56	QUBIK-3	1p	Libre Space Foundation	Amateur Radio / Technology Demonstrator					Decay: 2022-10-3
57	QUBIK-4	1p	Libre Space Foundation	Amateur Radio / Technology Demonstrator					Decay: 2022-10-3
58	Unicorn-2G	3p	Alba Orbital	Earth observation	2023-1-3 14:56	Falcon 9		Launcher
59	Unicorn-2H	3p	Alba Orbital	Earth observation
60	URESAT	1.5p	AMSAT EA / URE	Amateur radio	12 June 2023 21:35	Falcon 9		Alba Orbital
61	MRC-100 (formerly SMOG-2)	3p	Budapest University of Technology and Economics	Radio spectrum measurement, technology demonstration
62	ROM-2	1p	International Computer High School of Bucharest	Earth observation
63	Unicorn-2I	3p	Alba Orbital	Earth observation
64	Satlla-2I	2p	Ariel University	Education
65	Istanbul	1p	Hello Space	IoT
66	TinySat*	1p	Stratonavtika	Earth Observation	27 June 2023 11:34:49	Soyuz-2.1b / Fregat		Stratonavtika
67	TinySat*	1p
68	TinySat*	1p
69	TinySat*	1p
70	TinySat*	2p
71	TinySat*	2p
72	HADES-D	1.5p	AMSAT / Hydra Space	Amateur radio / Platform testing	11 November 2023	Falcon 9		Alba Orbital
73	ROM-3	1.5p	FRR	EO
74	SpaceANT-D	1p	SpaceIn	IOT
75	U2 Tartan Artibeus-2	1p	Alba Orbital/CMU	Tech Demo
76	Unicorn-2J	3p	Alba Orbital	EO
77	Unicorn-2K	3p	Alba Orbital	EO
78	Hello Test 1	2p	Hello Space	IOT				Momentus
79	Hello Test 2	2p	Hello Space	IOT
80	MDQubesat-2	2p	Innova Space	IOT	1 December 2023	Falcon 9		Alba Orbital
81	Unicorn-2L	3p	Alba Orbital	EO
82	Unicorn-2M	3p	Alba Orbital	EO
83	Unicorn-2N	3p	Alba Orbital	EO
84	GENESIS-A	1.5p	AMSAT / Hydra Space	Amateur radio	9 July 2024	Ariane 6		ESA
85	Skylink-1	3p	Hello Space	IOT	14 January 2025	Falcon 9		Alba Orbital
86	Skylink-2	3p	Hello Space	IOT
87	HYPE	1p	AGH University	Selfie
88	PROMETHEUS-1	1p	Minho University	Education
89	Poquito	1p	University of Luxembourg	Tech Demo
90	Hades-R	1.5p	Hydra Space	Tech Demo
91	Hades-T	1.5p	Hydra Space	IOT
92	Unicorn-2O	3p	Alba Orbital	Earth Observation	15th of March 2025	Falcon 9		Alba Orbital
93	Unicorn-2P	3p	Alba Orbital	Earth Observation
94	Unicorn-2Q	3p	Alba Orbital	Earth Observation
95	Hades-ICM	1.5p	HYDRA SPACE / IC MERCURY / SMART IR	Voice transponder, tech demo
96	Hydra-W	1.5p	Hydra Space	IOT / Tech Demo

• * Tinysat do not follow the currently recognized PocketQube Mechanical standard as they deploy from a cubesat with a rail interface and not from a dedicated MR-Fod style PocketQube deployer on a tabbed baseplate (which all other orbital pocketqubes on the list have used). This makes them a variant of the PocketQube standard.

---

In development

SpinnyONE	2P	HYDRA SPACE / Spinning Around	Technology Demonstrator	TBC	TBC	Alba Orbital	In development	First step in roadmap toward delivering tailor-made gravitational environments for life science experimentation in space.
Delfi-Twins	3p x2	Tu Delft	Technology Demonstrator & Education	TBC	TBC	Alba Orbital	In development	Formation Flying & Drag Adjustable Wings
TigerCub	1p	Princeton	Education	TBC	TBC	Alba Orbital	In development
NMHH-1 (Hunity)	3p	BME	Technology Demonstrator	TBC	TBC	Alba Orbital	In development	Advanced 3P
SARI-01	1p	Ideia Space/ Saudi Space Agency	Education	TBC	TBC	Alba Orbital	In development
SARI-02	1p	Ideia Space/ Saudi Space Agency	Education	TBC	TBC	Alba Orbital	In development
ANISCSAT	1p	Azercomos	Education	TBC	TBC	Alba Orbital	In development
GalaxySat-1	1p	Ideia Space / Galaxy Explorer	Technology Demonstrator + South Atlantic Anomaly	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	Scientific PocketQube 1P
AQUIS	2p	Space Team Aachen	Technology Demonstrator	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	The satellite will contain an in-house developed propulsion system
Orbital Temple	1p	Ideia Space / Edson Pavoni	Art	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	Edson Pavoni talks about the Orbital Temple, the first PocketQube with artistic goals
OzQube-1	1p	Picosat Systems	Earth Observation	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	Team Interview
Discovery 1a	1p	Quub, Inc.	Camera / Photo Sat	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	Windform XT 2.0 based PocketQube testing of the shelf components for space use
UoMBSat1	1p	University of Malta + University of Birmingham	Technology Demonstrator + Ionospheric Sounder	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	ASTREA Website @ UoM SERENE Website @ UoB
APRS PocketQube	1p	National Chiao-Tung University	APRS PocketQube for Moving Objects Tracking	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development
UBO	1p	Satellite Applications Catapult	Outreach	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	http://buildubo.co.uk/build/
Myansat-1	1p	Independent	Outreach	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	https://web.archive.org/web/20190115020853/http://myansat.com/
TFTQube	1p	The Flame Trench	Amateur	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	https://theflametrench.com/flagship/
TBC	TBC	University of Zacatecas	STEM	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	https://www.research"ate.net/project/Design-and-Implementation-of-a-PocketQube-system-for-educative-purposes
LibertyQube-1	1p	Liberty Life LLc	Experimental	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	https://www.libertylife-llc.com/
SatDuino	1p	Technical School N° 5 of Mar Del Plata	Education	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	https://satduinot5t1.wixsite.com/satduino
BYqube-1	1p	Brigham Young University	Education	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development
Pycubed-1	1p	Stanford University	Education	TBD		Alba Orbital	In development
DynOSSAT-EDU	1p	BHDynamics		TBC	TBC	TBC	In development
BS-0	1p	Aerozono Space Technologies (Argentina)	Earth Observation/ Technology Demonstrator	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	https://aerozono_space.gitlab.io/aerozono-space
BeliefSat-1	2p	K. J. Somaiya Institute of Engineering and Information Technology	Educational mission demonstrating PocketQube technologies	TBC	TBC	TBC	In development	https://github.com/NewLeapKjsieit/BeliefSat
TQube-FO	1p	TQube	Amateur tracking	TBD	TBD	TBD	In development
Leopard-Sat 1	1p	Wentworth Institute of Technology	Experimental mission demonstrating the use of two cameras onboard	TBD	TBD	TBD	In development	https://www.notion.so/picosat/Wentworth-PicoSat-a2947a5c33a04c8d9a6e7d9849fd3605
GOAT-1	1p	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Education	TBD	TBD	TBD	In development
RojavaSat	1p	Kurdistan Space Research Agency (KSRA)	Educational Pioneering Satellite Initiative & Localized Weather and Climate Data	TBC	TBC	KSRA	In development

---

PocketQube vs PocketQub The PocketQube standard originally started as PocketQub. This was changed in 2012 by Bob Twiggs of Morehead State University. The standard is now referred to as PocketQube.

---

Launch As of December 2019, the only launch brokers capable of providing launch integration for PocketQube satellites are Fossa Systems, Libre Space Foundation, Alba Orbital and GAUSS Srl.

---

See also

• CubeSat

---

Notes

---

External links

• NASA Article on PocketQubes
• Pocketqube Builders
• PocketQube Developer Resources

Post Comment