Engineering:M-Argo

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M-Argo
Mission typeAsteroid exploration & technology demonstration
Operator23px European Space Agency
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerLuxembourg LSA, TICRA, GomSpace, KP Labs
Start of mission
Launch dateNET 2027
← LUMIO
 

M-Argo (Miniaturised Asteroid Remote Geophysical Observer) is a planned asteroid rendezvous mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the form of a 12U CubeSat. M-Argo will spend six months around its destination asteroid collecting data on a repeating two-week pattern, searching the asteroid for in-situ resources.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The spacecraft will use ground-based navigation similar to that of Rosetta to determine its trajectory.[2]

Spacecraft

A Cubesat, M-Argo was largely made with cheap, standard parts that hundreds of other CubeSats use.[7] The probe was designed by a consortium led by the Luxembourg Space Agency, alongside TICRA, GomSpace, and KP Labs.[3][8]

M-Argo is 36.5 cm wide and 22 cm tall. It has its own propulsion system with twelve tiny gas jets to orientate and adjust its trajectory.[2] Due to the crafts small size several different designs were iterated before the development team decided upon electric propulsion.[2] M-Argo is also outfitted with a multispectral imager and laser altimeter as its primary payloads to map the asteroid.[2] The multispectral imager was provided by the Polish firm KP Labs which also contributed AI algorithms it used on prior missions to process and compress data to save storage space.[9] The probe will communicate with Earth using a specially designed X-band transponder and high-gain, flat-panel antenna.[2][4] M-Argo will also use an experimental Deep-Space Optical Navigation system during its transit to its destination.[10] Additional payloads include optical GNC and radio science and the solar array orientation mechanism (μSADA).[11]

Technology demonstration

Should the mission succeed, the ESA plans to approve a fleet of low-cost small spacecraft, perhaps 10 to 20 CubeSats at a time, to scout different asteroids on a surveying mission.[2] Roger Walker, overseeing ESA's technology CubeSats, stated that M-Argo will "enable the cost of asteroid exploration to be reduced by an order of magnitude or more".[4]

Project history

Asteroid selection

By June 2021, M-Argo team screened over 700,000 possible destinations, finding 150 suitable targets before settling on a shortlist of five to be narrowed down to one shortly before launch due to changing orbital dynamics.[12][2] The five selected asteroids differ in size, spin rate, and distance from the Earth.[2] All five targets are small near-earth asteroids less than 100 m in diameter.[2] No asteroids of this type have been visited yet by probes.[2]

Launch delays

Despite being largely constructed and ready for launch since 2021, M-Argo has continuously run into problems securing a launch vehicle.[4] Initially, M-Argo was supposed to launch on a Vega-C in 2023, however, following the failure of Vega C flight VV22 the entire project, and its scheduled launches including the M-Argo were scrapped and redesigned.[13] Afterwards, M-Argo was slated to be launched on-board an Ariane 6 in 2025, the back end of their launch window governed by the asteroid selection process.[14] However, difficulties with the Ariane 6 flight VA262 delayed the launch. As of 2025, M-Argo was scheduled for launch in 2027, requiring the reevaluation of candidate target astroids.[15]

See also

  • List of European Space Agency programmes and missions
  • Other European deep space CubeSat missions:
    • HENON — launch in 2026, a space weather mission, ESA's first ever stand-alone deep space CubeSat
    • LUMIO — launch in 2027, a CubeSat mission to characterize the impacts of near-Earth meteoroids on the lunar far side
    • VMMO — launch in 2028, a CubeSat Lunar orbiter mission to map the distribution of water ice and ilmenite on the Moon
    • Satis — launch in 2028, a mission to the asteroid Apophis

References

  1. ↑ "M-Argo". https://www.scienceoffice.org/projects/m-argo/. 
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 "M-Argo: Journey of a suitcase-sized asteroid explorer". https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Shaping_the_Future/M-Argo_Journey_of_a_suitcase-sized_asteroid_explorer. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "M-ARGO Spacecraft". https://www.nanosats.eu/sat/m-argo. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "M-Argo". https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2019/11/M-Argo. 
  5. ↑ "R&D Triumphs in Asteroid Exploration". https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Shaping_the_Future/R_D_Triumphs_in_Asteroid_Exploration. 
  6. ↑ Quarta, Alessandro A. (12 August 2024). "Continuous-Thrust Circular Orbit Phasing Optimization of Deep Space CubeSats". Applied Sciences 14 (16): 7059. doi:10.3390/app14167059. 
  7. ↑ "Getting CubeSats moving: M-Argo will be first to traverse interplanetary space under its own power". https://phys.org/news/2021-04-cubesats-m-argo-traverse-interplanetary-space.html. 
  8. ↑ "Design for first nanosat to rendezvous with asteroid begins". https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Shaping_the_Future/Design_for_first_nanosat_to_rendezvous_with_asteroid_begins. 
  9. ↑ "KP Labs to Participate in ESA's M-Argo Mission". 8 June 2024. https://polanddaily24.com/kp-labs-to-participate-in-esas-m-argo-mission/world-news/42561. 
  10. ↑ Franzese, V.; Topputo, F.; Ankersen, F.; Walker, R. (1 December 2021). "Deep-Space Optical Navigation for M-ARGO Mission" (in en). The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences 68 (4): 1034–1055. doi:10.1007/s40295-021-00286-9. ISSN 2195-0571. Bibcode: 2021JAnSc..68.1034F. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40295-021-00286-9. 
  11. ↑ "M-ARGO". https://www.asi.it/en/technologies-and-engineering/micro-and-nanosatellites/esa-gstp-fly-program/m-argo/. 
  12. ↑ Topputo, Francesco; Wang, Yang; Giordano, Carmine; Franzese, Vittorio; Goldberg, Hannah; Perez-Lissi, Franco; Walker, Roger (15 June 2021). "Envelop of reachable asteroids by M-ARGO CubeSat". Advances in Space Research 67 (12): 4193–4221. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2021.02.031. ISSN 0273-1177. Bibcode: 2021AdSpR..67.4193T. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0273117721001782. 
  13. ↑ Parsonson, Andrew (6 December 2024). "Vega C Returns to Flight Deploying Sentinel-1C". https://europeanspaceflight.com/vega-c-returns-to-flight-deploying-sentinel-1c/. 
  14. ↑ Nedbaeva, Olga. "Europe's Ariane 6 rocket launch postponed due to 'anomaly'". https://phys.org/news/2025-03-europe-ariane-rocket-postponed-due.html. 
  15. ↑ "ESA Technology CubeSats" (in en). https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/Technology_CubeSats/ESA_Technology_CubeSats. 



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