SIMBA

The mission

The Sun-earth IMBAlance (SIMBA) CubeSat mission was aimed at demonstrating the ability of a low-cost nano-satellite to measure the essential climate variables of total solar irradiance, Earth radiation budget and hence Sun-Earth radiation imbalance.

Platform: 3U CubeSat with 3-axis pointing.
Payload: absolute cavity radiometer, micro-bollimetric system.
Programme: General Support Technology Programme (GSTP).
Contractor: Royal Meteorological Institute Belgium.

Mission description

The SIMBA 3U CubeSat mission measured the Total Solar Irradiance and Earth Radiation Budget climate variables with a miniaturised radiometer instrument. Additionally, the mission also included the demonstration of a precise pointing system developed by KU Leuven, consisting of a new 3-axis ADCS with reaction wheels and star tracker. The CubeSat was originally planned to be launched with the QB50 constellation, however was eventually launched as a piggyback opportunity on the Vega launcher into Sun Synchronous Orbit and achieved its mission objectives. The IOD mission was extended several times up to a total duration of over 2 years in order to perform additional experiments with the payloads. 

Mission status

Launch: September 2020 through VEGA's Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS).
Status: mission complete, operational until December 2022.