FossaSat family

Also known as FossaSat-1, FossaSat-2, FossaSat-2E, Fossa Systems

Spanish PocketQube series by Fossa Systems that flight-demonstrated UHF LoRa chirp spread spectrum from a 1P in 2019 and scaled into the 2P FossaSat-2E commercial IoT constellation.

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SQ-MS-004
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From open-source 1P demonstrator to commercial IoT constellation

Founded in Madrid, Fossa Systems accounts for of the PocketQubes launched between 2013 and 2023 ( of the global population)[1]:

  1. FossaSat-1 (1P, December 2019): Launched on Rocket Lab Electron into a orbit, FossaSat-1 carried an SX1278 transceiver on and deployable solar hinges[2]. It demonstrated that chirp spread spectrum frames transmitted at could be received by inexpensive ground boards with simple whip antennas before re-entering in November 2020.
  2. FossaSat-1B and FossaSat-2 (2021): Flown on Falcon 9 Transporter-1 and Soyuz-2.1a, refining deployable solar panels and attitude stabilization.
  3. FossaSat-2E series (2P, 2022–2023): Thirteen satellites (FossaSat-2E1 through 2E13) launched across Falcon 9 Transporter-3 and Transporter-5 to provide commercial low-power store-and-forward IoT connectivity[1].

Moving from the FossaSat-1 to the FossaSat-2E series doubled the side-panel solar area and accommodated cylindrical battery cells alongside higher-duty UHF/S-band transceivers, solving the eclipse power bottleneck experienced on early missions[3].

References

  1. [1]nadir lab. (2026). PocketQube-class picosatellites: architecture, flight heritage, and a multi-method post-flight analysis of Grizu-263A [Preprint]. nadir lab. Research Monographs (SQ-R-001).Read on nadir lab.
  2. [2]Allan, A. (2018). FossaSat-1, an open source satellite for the Internet of Things. Hackster.io.hackster.io(accessed 20 October 2026)
  3. [3]Bouwmeester, J., Radu, S., Uludag, M. S., Chronas, N., Speretta, S., Menicucci, A., & Gill, E. K. A. (2020). Utility and constraints of PocketQubes. CEAS Space Journal, 12(4), 573–586.doi:10.1007/s12567-020-00300-0

Cite this SatWiki entry

@misc{nadirlab2026fossasat,
  author       = {{nadir lab.}},
  title        = {{FossaSat family}},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = oct,
  howpublished = {nadir lab. SatWiki SQ-MS-004 (Rev. 1)},
  url          = {https://nadirlab.space/wiki/fossasat-family/}
}