Deep Space

TOGETHER FOR SUCCESSFULL EXPLORATION

LICIACube

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REAL-TIME TARGET IDENTIFICATION AND TRACKING THROUGH EDGE COMPUTING

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AUTONOMOUS ATTITUDE CONTROL AND NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

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SMALLSAT TECHNOLOGY FOR DEEP SPACE

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AIAA MISSION OF THE YEAR 2023

LICIACube

LICIACube is a microsatellite designed, built, and operated by Argotec, part of NASA's DART mission, the first planetary defense mission in history. The satellite was funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

satellite-image

LICIACube captured over 600 images of the impact between the DART probe and the asteroid Dimorphos from a distance of 11 million kilometers from Earth. This was achieved at an incredible speed of 7 km/sec.

LICIACube's notable achievements include becoming the first smallsat in history to undertake a mission to an asteroid in Deep Space and becoming the farthest-travelling Italian object in history (14 million kilometres from Earth, the deployment distance).

One of the extraordinary aspects of this satellite is the implementation of a sophisticated autonomously navigation model that allowed it to carry out the mission completely autonomously, identifying the target, tracking it, and maintaining the optimal attitude for photo acquisition. It also performed, entirely autonomously, an escape maneuver to avoid the debris emitted after the impact.

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Thanks to the images taken by LICIACube

two articles of outstanding scientific significance have been published in the prestigious journal Nature. Argotec is proud to contribute to the advancement of space exploration and scientific knowledge through this mission.

MLN KM

MAXIMUM DISTANCE
FROM EARTH

MIN

Duration of the Fly-By

.94 KM

MINIMUM DISTANCE
FROM THE TARGET

.145 KM/S

Fly-By

CERTIFICATIONS:

EN/AS/JISQ 9100:2016

ISO 9001:2015

Gender Equality
Management System
UNI/PdR 125:2022

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