3CAT-8 Spacecraft - Nanosats Database

Satellite name	3CAT-8 (CubeCat-8)
Type	CubeSat
Units or mass	6U
Status	not launched, expected in 2026
Launcher	RFA One
Organisation	Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC, BarcelonaTECH)
Institution	University
Entity type	Academic / Education
Country	Spain
Oneliner	3Cat-8 is a scientific mission to monitor and characterise ionospheric scintillation. Deploys PocketQubes and has deployable Fresnel zone plate antenna.
Description	3Cat-8 is a scientific mission to monitor and characterise ionospheric scintillation – that is, the emission of light from a body excited by radiant energy – and to monitor radio frequency emissions in the L- and K-bands. The CuPID PocketQube deployer, the first flight hardware of our newest mission, 3Cat-8, being integrated in the CubeSat structure.
Notes	Could be the same as 3CAT-3.
Sources	[1] [2]
Photo sources	[1] [2]
COTS subsystems	THRUSTER - Ienai
Subsystems sources	[1]
Keywords	Propulsion, Deployable antenna, Picosatellite deployer

Last modified: 2026-01-03