CubeSats They are satellites made of cubic units, or U, slightly smaller than a square tissue box, or about 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) on each side. (For example, a 2U CubeSat is the size of a rectangular tissue box.) Designed two decades ago as a low-cost platform for students to learn satellite design, the CubeSat was not considered a valuable data collection device.

But these small satellites can provide high-quality information and measurements, making them useful for students and scientists alike. In a recently published article AGU DevelopmentsXinlin Li describes two student-led research projects that use CubeSats to collect data on the near-Earth space environment.

The Colorado Space Weather Student Experiment (CSSWE), supported by the National Science Foundation, began in 2010 as a graduate student at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The focus is on the design and construction of a CubeSat and a companion ground station to measure the flux of solar protons and electrons in the Earth’s radiation belt.

The students preserved detailed documentation to ensure continuity of the project when their peers completed the course and launched the 3U Electron and Proton Telescope satellites as auxiliary payloads on September 13, 2012. Ground stations in Boulder received information from it when it first passed overhead. Graduate students were responsible for maintaining the task and eventually developing an automated operating system.

The CSSWE project has impacted the academic and professional careers of more than 65 students; CubeSat research has contributed to numerous theses, peer-reviewed articles, and even scientific breakthroughs: Data collected by CSSWE helped solve a long-standing mystery about the source and behavior of energetic electrons in Earth’s radiation belts.

The second CubeSat project supported by NASA was built on this information. With a larger budget and continued student interest, the Colorado Inner Radiation Belt (CIRBE) team developed another 3U CubeSat, more advanced than its predecessor, to collect more information about the dynamics and behavior of radiation belt electrons. CIRBE was launched in April 2023 and has been providing data since then.

Both projects have contributed to the study and understanding of the near-Earth space environment and may offer valuable insights into how high-quality space exploration can be conducted at low cost.