Small Satellite Systems
SB-1 in orbit, SB-2 on the bench, and a plan to leave orbit.
Updated Oct 20, 2026
The question
A 3U CubeSat has about 34 × 10 × 10 cm and a few watts to spend. We ask how to fit one useful job into that box, keep it alive for five years in a dawn–dusk orbit, and bring it down afterwards without propulsion.
Methods, tools and data
| Bus | 3U structure, magnetorquer attitude control, deployable panels |
|---|---|
| Test | Thermal-vacuum cycling, deployment rig, flat-sat |
| Operations | Rooftop UHF/S-band station, open-source scheduler |
| End of life | Deployable drag sail sized for deorbit within five years |
Representative papers
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24
“Eighteen months of thermal telemetry from a 3U CubeSat in a dawn–dusk orbit”
International Symposium on Small Spacecraft Operations (ISSO 2026), pp. 88–95, 2026
- 23
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21
“A deployable drag sail sized for passive deorbit within five years”
Small Satellite Engineering Letters, Vol. 7, pp. 1–12, 2025
People on this topic
- Yujin Jung Attitude control and on-orbit calibration of SB-1
- Eunseo Moon Deployable drag sail for SB-2
- Taeyang Shin Ground-station software and pass scheduling
- Gaeun Yoon Solar-panel deployment test rig
- Sora Kim Clean-room and integration lead