Prof. Ilias Fernini – Introduction to the Use of CubeSats in Space exploration

Mr. Mohamed Rihan –Low-cost Space Research, Importance, and Challenges

Mr. Yusuf Faroukh – Different Usages of CubeSats

Mrs. Tarifa Al-Kaabi – CubeSats for Planetary Science

Dr. Antonios Manousakis, Mrs. Noora Al-Ameri & Ms. Maryam Al-Qasimi - Scientific contribution of CubeSat in High-Energy Astrophysics

Since their advent in 1998, CubeSats are becoming the primary solution to conduct scientific space explorations and technological testbeds for both universities, national and private agencies, as well as private citizens. To date, more than 1,600 CubeSats have been launched to conduct various tasks. A CubeSat (U-class spacecraft) is a miniaturized satellite. A 1-U is one cubic module of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm size, with a mass of no more than 1.33 kilograms per unit. CubeSats often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure, and they can build into different scale modules, 1U, 2U, 3U…. Then, they are put into orbit by deployers on the International Space Station or launched as secondary payloads on a launch vehicle.

The different speakers at the workshop presented the various applications of  CubeSats in Earth observations, such as forecasting weather, tracking biodiversity and wildlife trends, measuring land-use change (such as deforestation), and monitoring and responding to disasters, including fires, floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis.  They are also used for planetary observations, and the best example is the MarCo (Mars Cube One) A & B CubeSats, a twin communications-relay 6U CubeSats, built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory that provided a real-time communications link to Earth for the Martian lander InSight during its entry, descent, and landing (EDL) on Nov. 26, 2018. The primary mission of MarCO is to test new miniaturized communication and navigation technologies. In High Energy Astrophysics (Gamma and X-ray domains), several CubeSats are being built to observe the universe. The SpIRIT CubeSat will detect gamma-ray bursts and electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave mergers. The CubIXSS is a CubeSat Imaging X-Ray Solar Spectrometer that will measure the elemental composition of hot, multimillion-degree plasmas in the Sun's corona - its outermost atmosphere. The BlackCAT CubeSat is a soft X-ray sky monitor, transient finder, and burst detector for high-energy and multimessenger astrophysics. Last, the SAASST Sharjah-Sat-1, a 3U CubeSat, being developed by the University of Sharjah in collaboration with Istanbul Technical University. The scientific motivation of Sharjah-Sat-1 is to conduct continuous coverage observations of the Sun's coronal holes as well as bright, hard X-ray sources, especially black holes transients
e.g., Vela X-1 (HMXB hosting NS), Cyg X-1 (HMXB hosting BH), GRS1915+105, catching Gamma-ray bursts and giant Soft Gamma-Ray Repeater bursts.

The whole workshop can be followed through the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZkmskCaRuE&t=494s