Spinnaker 3 (CP15)

Launch Date: September 2, 2021

Mission: Deployable drag sail demonstration

Spinnaker 3, CPCL’s 15th satellite, had the mission to deploy a drag sail to passively decrease the time for satellites to deorbit. Spinnaker 3 was a collaboration with Purdue University and NASA Langley, in which CPCL designed and built the bus and Purdue created the dragsail payload. Unfortunately, the Firefly Alpha Rocket exploded prior to entering orbit, resulting in mission failure and loss of spacecraft.

ExoCube 2 (CP12)

Launch Date: January 17, 2021

Mission: Characterize ion densities in the exosphere

ExoCube-2 (CP12) was a relaunch of the original ExoCube from 2015. Like ExoCube 1, this is also a 3U satellite but with a redesign of the antenna deployment mechanisms. CP12 was a collaboration between CPCL, NASA Goddard, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Illinois. CPCL was responsible for providing the bus design and its manufacturing. ExoCube-2’s mission was to collect and interpret ion densities in the exosphere. CP12 was successfully launched on Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket from Mojave Air and Space Port.

LightSail-2

Launch Date: June 25, 2019

Mission: Solar sailing demonstration

Lightsail-2 was the fully functional demonstration of Lightsail-1 and the concept of solar sailing. It was funded by the Planetary Society and was deployed into a higher LEO orbit than Lightsail-1 out of Cape Canaveral, at an orbital altitude of over 720km. Although only originally designed to withstand a 1-year mission, Lightsail-2 completed its mission after 3.5 years on November 17, 2022, after burning up in the atmosphere. Lightsail-2 was prepared at Cal Poly and CPCL provided testing facilities and mission control from our lab and ground stations.

LEO (CP9)

Launch Date: June 25, 2019

Mission: P-POD launch environment telemetry study

CP9 was a collaboration with Merrit Island High School designed to measure and record in-situ telemetry data from within a P-POD during launch and record thermal data using thermocouples and accelerometers. Also known as LEO, the Launch Environment Observer, this 2U satellite violated the CDS specification of prohibiting RF signals from within a P-POD to explore the possibility of using WiFi instead of satellite-to-ground radio links. CP9 was launched from a Falcon Heavy after launching from Cape Canaveral.

ISX (CP11)

Launch Date: December 16, 2018

Mission: Study of radio wave interference in the ionosphere

CP11, the Ionospheric Scintillation eXplorer (ISX), was a 3U satellite meant to characterize the effects of turbulent plasma structures and equatorial spread in the ionosphere. It was launched from the Mahia Launch Complex in New Zealand, but contact was never made. ISX was built with the Stanford Research Institute for the National Science Foundation. Cal Poly’s role was to provide and switch power between payload modules and relay data and commands between the payload and the ground station at Cal Poly.    

DAVE (CP7)

Launch Date: September 15, 2018

Mission: Particle damping experiment

CP7, also known as DAVE (Damping and Vibrations Experiment), was a particle damping demonstration in collaboration with Northrop Grumman. The goal of the mission was to characterize the behavior of particle dampers in a zero-gravity environment to explore their application towards eliminating jitter in sensitive scientific equipment. DAVE launched out of Vandenburg SFB on a Delta II rocket with the ELaNa 18 mission.

LightSail-1

Launch Date: May 20, 2015

Mission: Initial solar sail demonstration

LightSail-1 was a 3U CubeSat developed by Stellar Exploration for the Planetary Society. It was launched out of Cape Canaveral on an Atlas V and deployed its solar sails on June 7. LightSail-1’s mission was to deploy a solar sail in Low Earth Orbit to pave the way for LightSail-2, in which full solar flight will be demonstrated. Solar sails, like LightSail, work by utilizing photons from the sun to passively propel a spacecraft. LightSail-1’s mission was concluded on June 14, 2015, after reentering the atmosphere. CPCL provided launch integration, environmental testing, and ground operations.

ExoCube (CP10)

Launch Date: January 31, 2015

Mission: Measuring the elemental composition of the exosphere

CP10 had the mission of measuring ion and neutral particle densities in the exosphere with a mass spectrometer. This satellite was designed for and sponsored by the National Science Foundation and launched out of Vandenberg. The data from this mission was used to calibrate ground stations that take in the same measurements. CP10 was also known as ExoCube, as it took measurements from the exosphere. CPCL designed and built the core satellite bus, while the scientific payload was provided by Goddard Space Flight Center. Alongside NASA, this was also a collaboration with the University of Wisconsin and Scientific Solutions, Inc., which developed the scientific objectives.  

IPEX (CP8)

Launch Date: December 6, 2013

Mission: JPL Autonomous Image Processing

CP8, the Intelligent Payload Experiment, was a collaboration with JPL to validate the efficacy of their autonomous image processing algorithms and was funded by NASA’s Earth Science and Technology program. During testing of IPEX, we performed our first balloon launches in July and December 2012, which achieved elevations of over 100,000ft. IPEX was launched out of Vandenburg SFB on an Atlas V rocket and successfully and automatically took images of Earth and Space without the need for human intervention.

Because of this mission, the IPEX team was awarded the Group Achievement award from NASA.CP8, the Intelligent Payload Experiment, was a collaboration with JPL to validate the efficacy of their autonomous image processing algorithms and was funded by NASA’s Earth Science and Technology program. During testing of IPEX, we performed our first balloon launches in July and December 2012, which achieved elevations of over 100,000ft. IPEX was launched out of Vandenburg SFB on an Atlas V rocket and successfully and automatically took images of Earth and Space without the need for human intervention. Because of this mission, the IPEX team was awarded the Group Achievement award from NASA.

CP5

Launch Date: September 13, 2012

Mission: De-orbiting experiment using a deployed thin-film mechanism

CP5’s mission was to investigate the use of a 1m^2 thin-film mechanism to passively increase orbital decay rates. The thin-film mechanism contains a miniature solar sail and CP5 was operational until the end of 2013. CP5 was launched on an Atlas V out of Vandenburg SFB.

CP6

Launch Date: May 19, 2009

Mission: Attitude Determination and Control using 2-Axis Magnetometers and Magnetorquers

CP6 was a modified, alternative flight unit of CP3. The main mission of CP6 was to experiment with 2-axis magnetometers and magnetorquers for attitude determination and control. Its secondary mission was to rectify the issues found in communication and low-receive sensitivity with CP3. These were fixed using a low-noise amplifier on the radio to increase uplink reliability and by stabilizing the software. CP6 was also carrying a payload designed by Naval Research Laboratories (NRL), an electron emitter and collection experiment. This was the first launch from the United States by CPCL via a Minotaur launch vehicle at Wallops Flight Facility.

CP3

Launch Date: April 17, 2007

Mission: Attitude determination and control using 2-Axis magnetometers and magnetorquers

CP3 was the first Cal Poly CubeSat to make it to orbit, alongside CP4. It was a mission centered around attitude determination using solely magnetorquers, also featuring observation imagers on the payload face. Additionally, CP3 utilized the same bus design as CP2 to validate the concept of a standard CubeSat bus to accommodate any payload. A backup of CP3 was also created, then modified and renamed CP6.

CP4

Launch Date: April 17, 2007

Mission: Energy Dissipation Experiment and CP Bus test

As the backup edition of CP2, CP4 launched with CP3 and performed the initial goal of experimenting with energy dissipation. A photo was taken of CP4 by another CubeSat developed by the Aerospace Corporation, which was launched on the same rocket.

CP1

Launch Date: July 26, 2006

Mission: Attitude determination and control using 2-Axis magnetometers and magnetorquers

The first CubeSat developed by Cal Poly, CP1, had the objective of testing a sun sensor and a single-use magnetic torquer. CP1 launched out of Kazakhstan, however, due to a malfunction in a combustion chamber, the rocket failed to make orbit.

CP2

Launch Date: July 26, 2006

Mission: Energy dissipation experiment and CP bus test

CP2 was on the same rocket as CP1 that didn’t make it to orbit. CP2 was a characterization and field test of a Cal Poly-made CubeSat bus and an experiment on energy dissipation. Development began in Fall 2003 and was completed in Spring 2005. As it was the second CubeSat made by Cal Poly, CP2 was the first attempt at standardizing the bus to simplify commercial integration. An auxiliary CubeSat was also designed and modified to create CP4.