FrontierSat is an atmospheric science and technology demonstration space mission in the form of a 3U CubeSat-type small satellite.[1] The spacecraft was developed by "CalgaryToSpace", a team of University of Calgary students.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Its development was supported by University of Calgary, the Canadian Space Agency,[8] and the European Space Agency's Fly Your Satellite! program.[9][10] The satellite was launched on 3 May 2026 on the Falcon 9's CAS500-2 rideshare mission[11][12][13][14][15][16] and once in orbit, it successfully started transmitting data.[17]
| Names | CTS-SAT 1 |
|---|---|
| Operator |  University of Calgary |
| COSPAR ID | 2026-100D |
| SATCAT no. | 69015 |
| Website | www |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | 3U CubeSat |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 3 May 2026, 7:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 CAS500-2 rideshare mission |
Payload
editFrontierSat carries two payloads.[10] The Mini Plasma Imager (MPI), based on the Thermal Ion Imager (TII)[18] instruments of ESA's Swarm mission, is designed to study the aurora-like STEVE phenomenon.[19] The camera-monitored Deployable Composite Lattice Boom (DCLB) will test boom deployment technology.[8][20][21][22]
See also
edit- Aurora-D and Aurora-C – European space weather monitoring satellites
References
edit- ↑ Kulu, Erik. "FrontierSat". Nanosats Database. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ "UCalgary team prepares to launch city's first student-built satellite | News | University of Calgary". ucalgary.ca. 2025-06-05. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ Melgar, Alejandro (2025-08-13). "Calgary's first student-built satellite to launch in 2026". CityNews Calgary. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ Kajal, Kapil. "Student-built satellite to study rare atmospheric phenomenon in space". Interesting Engineering. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ Fieldberg, Alesia (2025-06-18). "Satellite built by Calgary students expected to launch into space this fall". CTVNews. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ "CalgaryToSpace". GitHub. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ Fieldberg, Alesia (2026-05-06). "'So surreal': University of Calgary students celebrate as their satellite orbits earth". CTVNews. Retrieved 2026-05-18.
- 1 2 Arnett, Kelsea (11 August 2025). "Eyes on the sky: Calgary's first student-built space satellite gets ready for liftoff". CBC News.
- ↑ "From Canada to Belgium, the CalgaryToSpace team completes a vibration test campaign". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- 1 2 "Teams selected for the October 2024 test window of Fly Your Satellite! Test Opportunities". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ "UCalgary, we have liftoff: Team set to launch city's first student-built satellite into orbit to study STEVE | News | University of Calgary". ucalgary.ca. 2026-04-30. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
- ↑ "CAS500-2 Mission". SpaceX. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ "CAS500-2 & Others | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Next Spaceflight". nextspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
- ↑ Day, Eleanor (2026-05-03). "SpaceX launches CAS500-2 and 45 other payloads to Sun-synchronous orbit". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2026-05-03.
- ↑ Boucher, Marc (2026-05-04). "SpaceX deploys seven Canadian satellites on CAS500-2 mission, marking University of Calgary's first". SpaceQ Media Inc. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ Maták, Juraj. "Družice". Kozmonautika. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
- ↑ Initiative, Kaiden Brayshaw-Local Journalism (2026-05-05). "Calgary's first student-built satellite is officially in orbit". LiveWire Calgary. Retrieved 2026-05-08.
- ↑ Burchill, Johnathan K.; Knudsen, David J. (2022-12-09). "Swarm Thermal Ion Imager measurement performance". Earth, Planets and Space. 74 (1): 181. Bibcode:2022EP&S...74..181B. doi:10.1186/s40623-022-01736-w. ISSN 1880-5981.
- ↑ Burchill, Johnathan; Beer, Kaleigh; Borges, Victor; Desai, Ravindra; Ivchenko, Mykola; Knudsen, David; Rupprecht, Chase; Sarris, Theodoros; Spanswick, Emma (2026-03-14). Innovative Measurements of Auroral Geophysics for Education and Research (IMAGER) (Report). Copernicus Meetings.
- ↑ MacDonald-Gauthier, Rory (2025-10-15). "FrontierSat delay reinforces Canada's push for sovereign launch". spacebahd - Canadian Space News. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ Alaieva, Liliia (2025-08-13). "CalgaryToSpace student satellite: FrontierSat will help simulate space weather". Universe Space Tech. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
- ↑ Okpara, Chibuike (2025-08-14). "Student-built satellite set to study a rare and mysterious cousin of Aurora Borealis and Australis". Notebookcheck. Retrieved 2026-04-30.
 | This article about one or more spacecraft of Canada is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |