CosmoGirlSat (Emma)

CosmoGirlSat [Cosmo Girls Amateur Radio Club]

CosmoGirl-Sat, also known as Emma, is an 1U-CubeSat developed by Space BD Inc. of Japan for the Cosmo Girls Amateur Radio Club, aimed at promoting participation of non-professional women in space activities and fostering human resource development in the space sector.

The mission focuses on lowering barriers to entry for women without professional backgrounds in aerospace by providing hands-on experience in satellite development and operations. It also seeks to establish a communication platform via amateur radio, enabling interaction between the satellite and the public. A unique outreach component involves collecting wishes from participants and symbolically transmitting them via the satellite in orbit.

Space BD Inc. served as the manufacturer, providing technical expertise in CubeSat development, integration, and testing. The satellite leverages standardized CubeSat architecture, allowing a relatively low-cost and accessible platform suitable for educational and outreach-driven missions. The involvement of an amateur radio club underscores the use of widely accessible communication technologies to broaden engagement.

CosmoGirl-Sat is equipped with an amateur radio payload for communication.

It was launched in August 2024 onboard of Cygnus CRS-21 to the ISS, where it was deployed on 29 August 2024.