The ESA Nanosatellite Beacons for Space Weather Monitoring Study: An Ideal Mission Opportunity for MEMS

This paper presents preliminary results from this ESA-funded study, which started in November 2004 and is now under final review by ESA, due for public release later this year. The primary aim of the study has been to investigate how current and emerging concepts for nanosats may be used to monitor space weather conditions and provide improved access to data needed for space weather services. The study has reviewed present and future micro and nano-technology developments that could be used to implement space weather monitoring by nanosats. It has also has established a set of space weather measurement requirements appropriate to nanosats solutions and developed a set of instrument and spacecraft solutions to address those requirements. These were then subject to a detailed system and mission analysis to trade-off a range of potential mission and spacecraft architectures, and derive costs for programme development, operation and maintenance over a ten-year period. As a last step the study reviewed the results of the previous stages and developed a report on the prospects for a space weather nanosat programme and recommendations on the measures needed to enable implementation of such a programme. To support this step a small workshop was held at ESTEC following the MNT Round Table.