ChipSat (Sprite)

Definition#

A ChipSat squeezes every function of a satellite (power, sensing, computing and radio) onto one small circuit board. The best-known example is the Sprite, developed at Cornell University under Mason Peck: a board of about 3.5 cm that weighs 4 grams[1].

The KickSat missions#

To carry Sprites into orbit, the KickSat project led by Zachary Manchester built a 3U CubeSat carrier, funded through a crowd-funding campaign[2]. The first attempt, KickSat-1, was launched on SpaceX CRS-3 on 18 April 2014, but a radiation-induced reset of its master clock pushed back the release timer, and the carrier re-entered on 14 May 2014 without releasing its Sprites[3].

KickSat-2 launched on Cygnus NG-10 on 17 November 2018, separated from Cygnus at about 300 km on 13 February 2019 and released 105 Sprites on 18 March 2019. The first signals arrived the following night, and the Sprites re-entered within days, as designed[3].

A ChipSat on a PocketQube#

In January 2025 the 185 g PocketQube POQUITO of the University of Luxembourg carried an independent ChipSat and demonstrated the first visible-light link between a PocketQube and a ChipSat[4]. The mission pairs the two smallest classes: the PocketQube provides power, radio and attitude, the ChipSat a free-flying node a few grams heavy[5].

Why it matters#

The Sprites showed that the parts cost of a satellite can fall below a hundred dollars and that many nodes can be released at once and heard on a single channel. The approach points to multi-point networks for atmospheric and space-weather measurements, and to disposable probes in planetary exploration.