I. Introduction
Since their initial introduction in the 1950s, satellites have increased in size substantially (>2000 kg), with launch costs increasing in parallel to >$10 million dollars (per launch) as well [1]. Though there exist many classes of smaller satellites (smallsat), it is the CubeSats that are well positioned to dominate future space exploration due to their inherent cost effectiveness; this allows the participation of a substantially larger user base in missions of technology demonstrations, science, and education (especially from universities). Under current standards, CubeSats have a range of mass between 1 and 15 kg and of up to 12U in volume (1U =10 cm 10 cm 10 cm) [2]. This low mass and volume enables CubeSats to “piggyback” on other rocket launches or be deployed from larger orbiters at much lower costs or even free of cost [3]. With the advent of design standards (i.e., Cubesat Kit), CubeSats also have substantial advantages in affordable design options from numerous commercially available parts suppliers (i.e., Pumpkin, GOMSpace, Clyde Space, etc.) in addition to vendors providing other products and services. As a result, what was only a handful of missions back in 2000 has grown exponentially over the years, and is on track for a record number of CubeSat missions as of July 2017 (49 university, 3 military, 4 civil government, and 16 commercial) as shown in Fig. 1.
CubeSat-class mission count. Source: Swartwout CubeSat database at Saint Louis University [4].