Tiny CubeSats could hitch a ride with ESA mission

Calling all galactic hitchhikers: the European Space Agency is offering a ride. In 2020, ESA plans to launch a spacecraft to an asteroid, and will have room for up to six mini-spacecraft called CubeSats onboard.

These 10-centimetre-wide vessels are cheap to build, but no CubeSat has ever flown beyond Earth’s orbit, so it could be a chance to grab a slice of history.

ESA is inviting applications from research teams and companies across Europe. Although even hobbyist teams can build CubeSats, James DiCorcia of Deep Space Industries, a firm planning to mine asteroids that is also working on a CubeSat mother ship, thinks ESA will be looking for experienced launchers.

“Likely it will be spacecraft teams that have flown hardware before,” he says. “A university with a top-notch CubeSat programme is a very likely candidate for this mission.”

But even simple spacecraft will come in handy. “At this early stage in asteroid-proximity operations, almost any data acquired is useful,” he says.

This article will appear in print under the headline “Hitch a ride”