Tracking PocketQubes on Orbit

We get asked alot about PocketQube tracking. More specifically we get asked ‘Can these things be tracked once launched into orbit’? This article is aimed at that question, specifically answering the question by providing publicly available data in an easily digestible format. In short, all PocketQubes ever launched have been tracked at least once per day, in many cases averaging twice per day. This is a similar rate to the slightly larger cubesats.

The US Air Force and LeoLABS (a commercial tracking company) both have the capabilities to track PocketQubes. Given the Air Force data is public domain (available at space-track.org) we will focus on this dataset.

All objects launched into space which are trackable will show up on the Space Track system and are assigned a NORAD CAT ID, starting from Sputnik upto the most recent launch today. Once launched, these NORAD CAT ID’s are assigned to the satellites, often in coordination with their owner/operators. Every time the object passes through a radar station with the sensitivity to detect it, a ‘Two Line Element’ (TLE) will be generated and assigned to that NORAD ID/Satellite. 

PocketQube TLES at 14th of October 2020  

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As of today (14th of October 2020), 10 PocketQubes have been launched into orbit. Cumulative PocketQube TLE’s are 18,428. The first 4 PocketQubes launched in 2013, today have created 15,278. The next 6 PocketQubes were launched by Alba Orbital in December 2019 and as of today have 3154 TLEs. The 2013 launch was to over 600km while the 2019 launch was to a 403km x 348km orbit. Both launches demonstrate all PocketQubes are trackable and there are no show stoppers for an object <10cm on one side.

TLE Blog Table 2.JPG
TLE Blog Table 3.JPG

As of today, Four 1p satellites (the smallest type of PocketQube (5cm cube)) have been launched into orbit. They have all been tracked, everyday since the first 1p (Wren) was launched in 2013.

This blogpost offers a snapshot of the PocketQube objects on orbit. With between 7-10 PocketQube TLE’s currently being added to the space-track database everyday, the number of PocketQubes tracking data points is growing rapidly.

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