Overview
- UPAEP’s Gxiba-1 was released from the ISS’s Kibo module via the J-SSOD deployer on February 3, entering low-Earth orbit at roughly 400 kilometers.
- The team reported an initial signal through the Iridium constellation, confirming early spacecraft health and communications.
- Mission operations focus on photographing Popocatépetl and other active volcanoes and supplying data to CENAPRED and Protección Civil for early-warning and ash-dispersion analysis.
- The CubeSat was designed and built by UPAEP students and faculty and was selected under UNOOSA–JAXA’s KiboCUBE program that provides ISS deployment access to emerging-space universities.
- Gxiba-1 carries a visible-spectrum camera and uses magnetorquers for attitude control, targets an operational life of about one year, and is designed to deorbit to avoid space debris.