The general tendency during the recent years is to develop Earth observation missions implemented on an individual small satellite bus, or constellations thereof. Benefits are multiple, ranging from cost-effective missions, reduction of development delays, international cooperation and hardware standardization. For example, the C3IEL mission (Cluster for Climate and Cloud Imaging of Evolution and Lightning) under study by CNES and ISA is an innovative nanosat-based mission (4 in a train) aimed at studying high resolution images (20 m) of clouds. Papers addressing the technical issues related to the utilization of small satellites for Earth observation scientific missions are expected in this session.

Small satellites are part of an ongoing revolution in Earth Science observations from space, dramatically changing temporal revisit times, and allowing scientists to observe poorly studied global dynamic phenomena in the atmosphere, on land and in the oceans. Smallsat constellations such as Planet, CyGNSS, TROPICS and SPIRE that unlock this capability are real game-changers in the field. The low cost and rapid development schedules of Smallsats makes them sustainable – since they can easily be deployed in large constellations the loss of one or two does not have such a great impact. And Smallsat constellations can easily be refreshed as the satellites age or need upgrading. Abstracts are encouraged for this session describing: mission concepts that address these themes, whether as a full-blown constellation providing Earth Science observations; or as a pathfinder that could lead to a constellation; and the results of analysis of Earth Science data collected by existing cubesats and Smallsats.

Atmospheric motions at sub-synoptic scales, from few tens of km to several tens of m, are responsible for the development of clouds and local severe storms, but their monitoring from space has been a very limited until now. Also of prime importance and challenging is the measurement of the cloud microphysics at high resolution. There are emerging new plans for small satellites that will do that, based on miniaturized lidars, radars, microwave sounders and on multi-stereoscopic multi-platform observations of the evolution of cloud surfaces. Such a mission is C3IEL (Cluster for Climate and Cloud Imaging of Evolution and Lightning), which is planned as a cooperative mission between Israel and France. Presentations concerning small satellites for studying cloud dynamics and microphysics, for existing, planned and proposed missions are encouraged.

VENµS is a joint space system venture of Israeli and French governments for Earth observation (EO). This scientific mission onboard a micro-satellite focuses on vegetation and land surface monitoring, but it is also used in the fields of coastal or cryosphere studies, for instance. VENµS was launched on August 1st, 2017. It provides 5 and 10 m resolution images in 12 shortwave spectral bands every two days over a set of scientific sites, with constant view angle and overpass time. This session focus on the geometric and radiometric pre-processing of VENµS data, the atmospheric corrections, as well as on the scientific uses and applications, would it be for land research or any other scientific topic.

This session solicits all aspects of Earth observation using SmallSats for earth science research and geo-hazards mitigation. Possible topics include but are not limited to: Observing system concepts, addressable grand challenges, enabling technologies and their maturation, research-to-operations pathways, observing system simulation experiments, formations and constellations, collaboration opportunities, science and applications, as well as initial results. The objective is to accelerate research, development and applications of highly affordable atmospheric, oceanographic, hydrospheric, biospheric, and cryospheric satellite observatories based on the recent advances of smallsats technology.

The study of our Solar System provides a fundamental contribution to crucial open questions but it is also strictly connected to modern mission design, that involves the core of space competencies, innovation and forefront developments. Thanks to the development of new technologies, the access to space astronomy is indeed open to a wider community and can be based on different solutions in terms of payloads. It could be then crucial to evaluate the most promising scientific challenges in order to optimize efforts and foster international cooperation. So far the activities related to the study of the Solar System have been rather divided into Earth and other planets investigations, while the challenge is to extend the effort towards spin-in and spin-off ideas to benefit both the sectors. Indeed, comparative planetology (i.e. studying Earth with respect to other planets and vice-versa) based on remote sensing data is nowadays a consolidated discipline embracing a large community of scientists studying planetary surface and atmospheric processes by using same instruments (e.g. VIS and IR camera, imaging spectrometers, laser altimeters) and methodologies (e.g. Geographic Information Systems, climate models). Therefore, common initiatives will be functional for the broad planetary community. In this framework mini-satellite could play an important role since they represent a common stage for the new missions and can hosts new generation payloads. To this purpose, several miniaturized satellites (cubesats) are going to be launched as technology demonstrators for Earth study (e.g. ESA SIMBA, Picasso), and two demonstrators are on cruise to Mars for the first time (MarCO cubesats on board NASA InSight mission). Moreover, other cubesats will be launched for deep space and interplanetary missions (e.g. JAXA EQUULEUS, NASA INSPIRE). In this contest, the effort should be oriented towards the full exploitation of the potentialities of the infrastructural assets: satellites, instruments, enabling technologies, but also a deeper analysis of driving parameters and a critical evaluations of current results. The proposal aims to discuss on the same day different missions and related technology issues both for the Earth and other planets science in order to foster the exchange between two only apparently different communities and encourage spin-in and spin-off initiatives. We expect to gather scientists, engineers, and industrial builders and operators. We hope that this common approach will result in new ideas and collaborations.

Recently, the demand for low-cost small satellites (micro- and nano-satellites) has increased in the area of space weather monitoring and research. This theme intends to cover the instrumentation for space plasmas and data analysis of Sun, magnetosphere, and ionosphere observed by small satellites. Session objectiveswill be: to share a new idea for space weather research with micro- and nano-satellites; to review of technics for space plasma diagnostics using micro- and nano-satellites; and, to support international collaboration for space weather missions. Session Topics will include: Observation of effects of solar variability on the Earth’s geomagnetic storms, energized radiation belts, particle precipitation, and Aurora with micro- and nano-satellites; Data analysis and instrumentation for in situ diagnostic of ionospheric/magnetospheric plasmas using micro- and nano-satellites; Data analysis and instrumentation for remote sensing of optical/radio signals from ionospheric plasma onboard micro- and nano-satellites; Formation flight of micro- and nano-satellites carrying scientific payloads; and, Challenging Technique for Observation and Study on Solar Atmosphere and Solar Wind.

The past three decades’ history of space astronomy has shown how important is the access to the Gamma-ray, X-ray, UV-optical, near IR spectrum from
space. The combined use of large ground based facilities and large space observatories has played a key role in the advance of astrophysics by providing access to the entire electromagnetic spectrum, allowing high sensitivity observations from the lower radio wavelength to the higher energy gamma rays. More recently the discovery of Gravitational Waves by the Virgo and LIGO observatories, and of the electromagnetic counterpart of the sources, have opened the era of multi-messenger astrophysics. The combination of the information conveyed by these new messengers, neutrinos, gravitational waves, high energy particles, with the photon at all wavelengths, open a completely new view of the Universe and to the fundamental laws of physics. In few years from now large facilities will be launched, such as LISA, Athena, SVOM, JWST extending our access to the Universe. At the same time, new ideas of instrumentation are flourishing for launch on nano-satellites (cubesat), or micro-satellites. The workshop aims to present new concepts of missions on small satellites (nano or micro), either ideas, projects, or already approved instruments, the associated technology, and their scientific case. We expect to gather scientists, engineers, and industrial builders and operators. We hope that this common approach will result in new ideas and collaborations.

Over the past decade, small satellites have become a viable platform for both technology demonstrations, while also serving as observational platforms for addressing pertinent Earth and space science needs. With the increasing popularity of such small satellite projects in an academic setting, several challenges must still be addressed, including the formulation of viable mission concepts, project management, and striking the right balance between student involvement and professional quality assurance. We invite participants to share their experiences and lessons learned in designing and executing small spacecraft development projects in an academic setting, considering both the challenges of meeting scientific and engineering requirements, as well as the role of such projects in education and capacity building in varied environments. Information on supporting services related to such academic small satellite projects are also welcome, with an emphasis on specific examples and user perspectives.

Specification of the Earth’s radiation belts remains an active research field, and a crucial part of the effort is to acquire the necessary in-situ data. Scientific satellite missions make invaluable contributions but are too infrequent and are not focused upon collection of environment data. Currently, many space system operators wish to operate in the altitude regime between ~800 km and a few thousand km. One such motivation is the increasing use of electric propulsion to transfer GEO satellites to their final orbit, which results in a far longer exposure to this harsh radiation environment than does a direct ascent. Comprehensive measurements of the trapped radiation in this lower-altitude regime from higher altitude missions such as those in geosynchronous transfer orbits is difficult with practical sensors. Contributions are solicited on missions and technologies to permit comprehensive measurements of the radiative environment and/or of induced effects on spacecraft in this mid-altitude regime. Innovative approaches such as the use of CubeSats and hosted missions are of special interest because they offer the potential to enable the necessary data collection in an economical way. Contributions are solicited concerned with enabling multiple data collection sites, constellations of space weather stations, to obtain true space situational awareness.