Interplanetary cubesats for asteroid exploration: mission analysis and design

The purpose of this study is to show CubeSats capabilities in support of an interplanetary mission. The feasibility study of a CubeSat mission for asteroid exploration was performed. The study is based on the proposed AIDA (Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment) mission, an ESA/NASA joint effort. Mission objectives and requirements was defined, followed by the development of concepts of operations and mission architectures proposals. The mission baseline was defined with the use of multiple trade-off tools. The proposed mission concept represents a valuable low-cost piggyback solution with high scientific return, also adaptable to other mission contexts.