Sector: Astrophysics

Number of satellites: 1

Form factor: 12 U

The CHIPS mission foresees a 12U satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) (between 475 and 590 km) equipped with an infrared telescope with the focal plane chamber actively cooled. CHIPS has the following scientific goals: identify the Gamma Ray Bursts originating in the early Universe, identify infrared counterparts of gravitational wave sources, discover potentially habitable Earth-like planets around nearby cold stars, study the near-Earth Asteroid family. CHIPS' ambitious goals require it to overcome several technological challenges in its CubeSat design. Specifically, the satellite must: respond rapidly to triggers, re-targeting within 20 minutes while maintaining stable pointing; achieve precise attitude control using mini star trackers and reaction wheels, enabling a rotation speed of 0.5 deg/s and a pointing accuracy (pointing RPE) better than 4 arc seconds; ensure continuous communication, through the IRIDIUM constellation, to receive trigger signals and download preliminary scientific data and feature a dedicated S-band radio antenna to provide complete data transfer.

Proposing team: INAF (Prime), Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI)