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Due to the advancement of nano-satellite technology, CubeSats and fleets of CubeSats can form an alternative to high-cost large-size satellite missions with the advantage of extended spatial coverage. One of these initiatives is the Cubesats Applied for MEasuring and LOcalising Transients (CAMELOT) mission concept, aimed at detecting and localizing gamma-ray bursts with an efficiency and accuracy comparable to large gamma-ray space observatories. While precise attitude control is not necessary for such a mission, attitude determination is an important issue in the interpretation of gamma-scintillator detector data as well as for telemetry. The employment of star trackers is not always a viable option for such small satellites, hence another alternative is necessary. In this correspondence we present a new method, utilizing thermal imaging sensors to provide simultaneous measurement of the attitude of the Sun and the horizon by employing a homogeneous array of such detectors and show that with the proposed setup the location of an infrared point source can be determined with an accuracy of 400. We also introduce our ongoing work on a simulation model aimed at testing the applicability of our attitude determination algorithm. The first part of the simulation determines the orbit and rotation of a satellite with arbitrary initial conditions while its second part will do the attitude determination based on a multiplicative extended Kalman filter..

GRBAlpha is a 1U CubeSat mission with an expected launch date in the first half of 2021. It carries a 75 × 75 × 5 mm CsI(Tl) scintillator, read out by a dual-channel multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) setup, to detect gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The GRB detector is an in-orbit demonstration for the detector system on the Cubesats Applied for MEasuring and LOcalising Transients (CAMELOT) mission. While GRBAlpha provides 1/8th of the expected effective area of CAMELOT, the comparison of the observed light curves with other existing GRB monitoring satellites will allow us to validate the core idea of CAMELOT, i.e. the feasibility of timing-based localization

The control and feedback systems of autonomous meter-classed telescopes is different from one to another, however these systems all have the same purpose. We intended to design a multi-functional and modular electronics that is capable of controlling the mechanics, give feedback of the position of the telescope and/or the dome and communicate with each other and a higher level overseer. We are going to use these electronics in the "Fly’s Eye," the ”Transient Astrophysical Object” project for other telescopes. We will show that our concept is a cheap, reliable, effective way to get a control small-size astronomical observatories.

We propose a fleet of nanosatellites to perform an all-sky monitoring and timing based localisation of gamma-ray transients. The fleet of at least nine 3U cubesats shall be equipped with large and thin CsI(Tl) scintillator based soft gamma-ray detectors read out by multi-pixel photon counters. For bright short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), by cross-correlating their light curves, the fleet shall be able to determine the time difference of the arriving GRB signal between the satellites and thus determine the source position with an accuracy of similar to 10'. This requirement demands precise time synchronization and accurate time stamping of the detected gamma-ray photons, which will be achieved by using on-board GPS receivers. Rapid follow up observations at other wavelengths require the capability for fast, nearly simultaneous downlink of data using a global inter-satellite communication network. In terms of all-sky coverage, the proposed fleet will outperform all GRB monitoring missions.

In order to provide a continuous, multi-color time-domain surveying of the brightest regime of the naked-eye optical sky, we designed the Mosaic Array of Numerous Ultrasmall Lens (MANUL). This device is a palm-sized “astronomical observatory,” featuring optics, filters and all necessary electronics (including a TCP/IP-based downlink), all are mounted on 2-inch printed circuit boards. Based on these units, a modular and mosaic arrangement of CMOS imaging sensors with an effective resolution of 1’/pixel can be built. Here we introduce the main design concepts, the early prototyping and the results of the preliminary photometric quality analysis of this initiative.

The Fly's Eye Project is a high resolution, high coverage time-domain survey in multiple optical passbands: our goal is to cover the entire visible sky above the 30° horizontal altitude with a cadence of ~3 min. Imaging is going to be performed by 19 wide-field cameras mounted on a hexapod platform resembling a fly’s eye. Using a hexapod developed and built by our team allows us to create a highly fault-tolerant instrument that uses the sky as a reference to define its own tracking motion. The virtual axis of the platform is automatically aligned with the Earth’s rotational axis; therefore the same mechanics can be used independently from the geographical location of the device. Its enclosure makes it capable of autonomous observing and withstanding harsh environmental conditions. We briefly introduce the electrical, mechanical and optical design concepts of the instrument and summarize our early results, focusing on sidereal tracking. Due to the hexapod design and hence the construction is independent from the actual location, it is considerably easier to build, install and operate a network of such devices around the world.

In order to attain precise, accurate and stateless positioning of telescope mounts we apply microelectromechanical accelerometer systems (also known as MEMS accelerometers). In common practice, feedback from the mount position is provided by electronic, optical or magneto-mechanical systems or via real-time astrometric solution based on the acquired images. Hence, MEMS-based systems are completely independent from these mechanisms. Our goal is to investigate the advantages and challenges of applying such devices and to reach the sub-arcminute range { that is well smaller than the field-of-view of conventional imaging telescope systems. We present how this sub-arcminute accuracy can be achieved with very cheap MEMS sensors. Basically, these sensors yield raw output within an accuracy of a few degrees. We show what kind of calibration procedures could exploit spherical and cylindrical constraints between accelerometer output channels in order to achieve the previously mentioned accuracy level. We also demonstrate how can our implementation be inserted in a telescope control system. Although this attainable precision is less than both the resolution of telescope mount drive mechanics and the accuracy of astrometric solutions, the independent nature of attitude determination could significantly increase the reliability of autonomous or remotely operated astronomical observations.

GrailQuest (Gamma-ray Astronomy International Laboratory for Quantum Exploration of Space-Time) is an ambitious astrophysical mission concept that uses a fleet of small satellites whose main objective is to search for a dispersion law for light propagation in vacuo. Within Quantum Gravity theories, different models for space-time quantization predict relative discrepancies of the speed of photons w.r.t. the speed of light that depend on the ratio of the photon energy to the Planck energy. This ratio is as small as 10-23 for photons in the γ- ray band (100 keV). Therefore, to detect this effect, light must propagate over enormous distances and the experiment must have extraordinary sensitivity. Gamma-Ray Bursts, occurring at cosmological distances, could be used to detect this tiny signature of space-time granularity. This can be obtained by coherently combine a huge number of small instruments distributed in space to act as a single detector of unprecedented effective area. This is the first example of high-energy distributed astronomy: a new concept of modular observatory of huge overall collecting area consisting in a fleet of small satellites in low orbits, with sub-microsecond time resolution and wide energy band (keV-MeV). The enormous number of collected photons will allow to effectively search these energy dependent delays. Moreover, GrailQuest will allow to perform temporal triangulation of impulsive events with arc-second positional accuracies: an extraordinary sensitive X-ray/Gamma all-sky monitor crucial for hunting the elusive electromagnetic counterparts of Gravitational Waves, that will play a paramount role in the future of Multi-messenger Astronomy. A pathfinder of GrailQuest is already under development through the HERMES (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites) project: a fleet of six 3U cube-sats to be launched by the end of 2022.