Special Issue on Small Satellites Missions and Applications

Over the past few decades, space missions have been significantly revolutionized by the advent of small satellites. Ranging from tiny devices that fit in the palm of one’s hand to larger craft weighing less than 1 ton, these platforms have proven to be very versatile and successful. Thanks to their compact size, reduced cost, and the use of standards, small satellites have given access to space to new subjects, such as universities and private companies. Many countries with little or no heritage at all in space missions have recently gained access to space through a small satellite mission. In some cases, the chosen satellite platform was a CubeSat, a nanosat in the form of a cube with s 10 cm side and a weight of less than 1 kg. CubeSat started as an educational project for university students at the end of the 1990s, and in less than 30 years it has established itself as the reference standard for commercial space applications [1]. Small satellites are nowadays used to integrate or even replace larger platforms in many tasks that were not considered possible for them previously. Their capabilities continue to evolve and adapt to new scenarios and demands. This Special Issue seeks to provide an overview of recent trends in the world of small satellite missions and applications. Great value is added by papers that report examples of solutions and lessons learned from real space missions. The contributed articles belong to two broad groups—small satellite missions and spacecraft subsystems.