Thinking Out of the Box : Space Science Beyond the CubeSat

Over a decade ago, Professors Robert (Bob) Twiggs (then of Stanford University) and Jordi Puig-Suari (CalPolySLO) effected a major paradigm shift in space research with the development of the 10-cm CubeSat, helping to provide a new level of student accessibility to space science research once thought impossible. Seeking a means to provide students with hands-on satellite development skills during their limited time at university, and inspired by the successful deployment of six 1-kg, pico-satellites from Stanford’s Orbiting Picosatellite Automatic Launcher (OPAL) in 2000, Twiggs and Puig-Suari ultimately developed the 10-cm CubeSat. In 2003, the first successful CubeSat deployment into orbit demonstrated the very achievable possibilities that lay ahead. By 2008, 60 launch missions later, new industries had arisen around the CubeSat, creating new commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) satellite components and parts, and conventional launch resources became overwhelmed. This article recounts this history and related issues that arose, describes solutions to the issues and subsequent developments in the arena of space science (such as further miniaturization of space research tools), and provides a glimpse of Twiggs’ vision of the future of space research. Figure 1. Prof. Bob Twiggs Figure 2. Prof. Jordi Puig-Suari Thinking Out of the Box: Space Science Beyond the CubeSat Ravi A. Deepak 1, Robert J. Twiggs 2 1 Taksha University, , 2 Morehead State University Mavericks of Space Science With the development of the Cubesat over a decade ago, Bob Twiggs, at Stanford University (now faculty at Morehead State University), (Figure 1) and Jordi Puig-Suari, at California Polytechnic State University (CalPoly) (Figure 2), changed the paradigm of space research, helping to bring a new economy to space science that would provide accessibility once thought impossible to University students around the globe. Neither intentionally set out to establish a new model for satellite design and space research; instead, it happened Deepak, R., Twiggs, R. (2012): JoSS, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 3-7 JoSS, Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 3 (Feature article available at www.jossonline.com) Corresponding Author: Ravi A. Deepak ravi@taksha.org