BlackCAT Spacecraft - Nanosats Database

Spacecraft name	BlackCAT (Black Hole Coded Aperture Telescope)
Type	CubeSat
Units or mass	6U
Status	Operational (NanoAvionics news from 2026-01-12)
Launched	2026-01-11
NORAD ID	67369
Deployer	EXOpod Nova 12U/16U [Exolaunch]
Launcher	Falcon 9 (Twilight/Pandora)
Entity name	Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)
Institution	University
Entity	Academic / Education
Country	US
Manufacturer	AIVT by NanoAvionics
Operator	?
Costs	$5.8M
Oneliner	Soft X-ray sky monitor for high-energy astrophysics.
Description	Monitor deep space for high-redshift Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) using wide FOV. Locate EM counterparts of gravitational wave events from black hole/neutron star mergers. Monitor the sky and trigger alerts from high energy transient events (frequently associated with accreting black hole systems). Technology development to create new opportunities for future constellations of CubeSats and/or larger missions.
Sources	[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Photo sources	[1] [2]
COTS subsystems	PLATFORM - NanoAvionics
Subsystems sources	[1]
On the same launch	BlackCAT Connecta IoT 13 Connecta IoT 14 Connecta IoT 15 Connecta IoT 16 Dcubed-1 Hydra 2 Lemur-2 HyMS Lemur-2 237 Lemur-2 238 Lemur-2 239 Lemur-2 240 Lemur-2 241 Lemur-2 242 Lemur-2 243 Lemur-2 244 SPARCS Tomorrow-S10 Tomorrow-S11

Last modified: 2026-07-31