The NANOSATC-BR, CubeSats Development Program - Capacity Building with the NANOSATC-BR2’s Launch, First Operations and Expected Results Through INPE’s Ground Station at Santa Maria

Abstract

The INPE-UFSM's NANOSATC-BR CubeSats Development Program started in early 2008. Nowadays, the program has two CubeSats in space:  the NANOSATC-BR1 (1U), launched in 2014 and currently in standby mode, and the NANOSATC-BR2 (2U), which was recently launched in March 22, 2021 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. In this article, the launch of NANOSATC-BR2 is presented, alongside with its final tests, initial operations and expected scientific results. Regarding the Capacity Building, the main objective of the program, this work focuses in the involvement of the Federal University of Santa Maria - UFSM undergraduate students and professionals in the tracking and control of CubeSats through the INPE’s Ground Station at Santa Maria, which works as an excellent tool for supporting CubeSat scientific missions from all around the world and also to qualify students to work on the Ground Segment of space missions. The program was supported by the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI).