| Spacecraft name | INSPIRE (Interplanetary NanoSpacecraft Pathfinder In Relevant Environment) |
|---|---|
| Spacecraft type | CubeSat |
| Units or mass | 3U |
| Organization | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
| Institution | Space agency |
| Entity type | Government (Civil / Military) |
| Headquarters | US |
| Partners | California Institute of Technology, Goldstone-Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) |
| Oneliner |
Demonstrate functionality in deep space: command & data handling communication, and navigation. |
| Description |
Demonstrate fundamental functionality in deep space: command & data handling telecommunication, and navigation. Characterize CubeSat system performance in the deep space. Demonstrate mother-daughter mission architectures by relaying communications. Demonstrate the capability to support COTS/university processor subsystems in functioning despite upsets, by monitoring and power-cycling them. Two payloads to demonstrate the science utility of the platform: a helium-vector magnetometer, and an imager with payload processor running agile science algorithms. The potential exists for the INSPIRE spacecraft to supplement the 2014 Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) objectives of large-scale 3D-structure solar wind measurements with fine-scale observations obtained from the two slowly separating INSPIRE spacecraft. |
| Sources | [1] [2] |
| Photo sources | [1] |
| Keywords | Propulsion, Beyond Earth orbit |
Related Spacecraft
| Name | Status | Rocket | Launch | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INSPIRE-A (Interplanetary NanoSpacecraft Pathfinder In Relevant Environment) | cancelled? (Were built, but lost interplanetary launch and unlikely after MarCO) | cancelled | x_cancelled | Heliocentric, deep space |
| INSPIRE-B (Interplanetary NanoSpacecraft Pathfinder In Relevant Environment) | cancelled? (Were built, but lost interplanetary launch and unlikely after MarCO) | cancelled | x_cancelled | Heliocentric, deep space |
Last modified: 2023-06-08
