“One satellite would work as the Leader, overseeing a pair of Followers an optimum 10 km apart so they can observe the same area at the same time. This architecture increases mission resilience, because as long as at least one satellite remains operational, the mission stays alive. That at least was the theory. Then, suddenly, mere hours after launch, we had to start making it work for real.”

The ANSER trio of CubeSats – low-cost and size satellites built up from standardised 10 cm boxes – flew on Europe’s Vega Flight VV23 launch in October 2023. But while the two Follower CubeSats made it safely into orbit, the Leader CubeSat failed to deploy, reentering soon after with the rest of the Vega upper stage.

The ANSER trio had suddenly become a duo. The INTA team had to scramble to save the truncated mission.