State-of-the-Art Of Small Spacecraft Technology

State-of-the-Art Of Small Spacecraft Technology:

NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology State-of-the-art report has been updated annually to capture the latest information on publicly available small spacecraft systems. The report provides an overview of the current state of small spacecraft technology, including the development status of various subsystems and design considerations for mission planners.

The report highlights the rapid growth of the small spacecraft market, with an influx of constellations of mini-class small spacecraft with a mass of 201-600 kg. The authors have made a concerted effort to update areas with recent technology developments that may bridge existing technology gaps. The report is organized into chapters, each of which provides an introduction to the technology, current development status of procurable systems, and summary tables of technologies surveyed.

The report also highlights the growing fields of assembly, integration, and testing services, as well as mission modeling and simulation. [Revisit for further details.]

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When the first edition of NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology State-of-the-art report was published in 2013, 247 CubeSats and 105 other non-CubeSat small spacecraft under 50 kilograms (kg) had been launched worldwide, representing less than 2% of launched mass into orbit over multiple years. Since 2013, the fight heritage for small spacecraft has greatly increased as they have become the primary source to space access for commercial, government, private, and academic institutions. Since the last edition of this report released in 2022, there has been an influx of constellations of mini-class small spacecraft with a mass 201 – 600 kg (1).

Publisher: NASA

Reference: State-of-the-Art of Small Spacecraft Technology - NASA