PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat) @ Nanosats Database

Name	PICS (Passive Inspection CubeSat)
Type	CubeSat
Units or mass	1U
Mass in kg	2.7 kg
Organisation	Brigham Young University
Institution	University
Entity	Academic / Education
Nation	US
Launch brokerer	NASA CSLI / ELaNa
Oneliner	Demonstrate performing inspection, maintenance and assembly on another spacecraft plus LED flash array.
Description	Demonstration mission of a spacecraft capable of performing inspection, maintenance and assembly on another spacecraft. It will demonstrate ultrafast booting and power-up operation of system electronics and the low-risk inspection of the exterior of a spacecraft by a passive, flyaway probe. The two flight systems deployed simultaneously will enable the collection of image data from each other as well as the parent spacecraft. After deployment, they rapidly bootup and image the launch vehicle. Out of view of the upper stage, each will characterize the other’s tumble using the cameras. Each PIC has a spherical camera array (360°x180°), supported by flash LEDs. This camera array maintains visual of its target, regardless of deployment tumble, so no active navigation systems are necessary. Each PIC consists primarily of custom electrical, mechanical, and thermal subsystems developed by the undergraduate team during the last year.
Sources	[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Photo Sources	[1] [2] [3] [4]

Related Spacecraft

Name	Status	Launch	Orbit
PICS 1 (Passive Inspection CubeSat, PIC-A, PICA)	No signal (Un-dated update on the official website, but one LED flash was captured on the launcher camera)	2021-01-17	500 km, 60.7 deg
PICS 2 (Passive Inspection CubeSat, PIC-B, PICB)	No signal (Un-dated update on the official website, but one LED flash was captured on the launcher camera)	2021-01-17	500 km, 60.7 deg