CubeSats: The way forward from educational tools toward reliable technologies

Since the first of their kind in 1999, CubeSats have been developed for a variety of applications; remote sensing, scientific experiments, technology demonstration, and communication, to name a few. The relatively low cost and ease of manufacturing of these platforms make them a favorable option over large-scale satellites for space observation missions in low Earth orbit. However, the success rate of CubeSat missions is quite low. The low success rate is primarily attributed to the incapability of CubeSats to withstand launch or space conditions. The malfunctions observed in CubeSats, ranging in size and mission, may be mechanical in nature or due to software bugs. A study was conducted to scrutinize and discuss malfunctions that can occur during the operations phase in CubeSats. Multiple CubeSat glitches are addressed independently and an understanding of what may go wrong and how it can be prevented is presented. These observations are based on knowledge acquired from first-hand experience of executing four CubeSat projects from beginning to end, which includes design from scratch, system and component analysis, prototype building, flight model assembly, system integration, testing and operation of each satellite. While some speculations indicate possible reasons for a certain glitch, others are industrial insights that may prove beneficial in future CubeSat projects.