SOCRATES / EXACT

EXACT [University of Minnesota]

The SOCRATES (Signal of Opportunity Cubesat Ranging and Timing Experiments) is a 3U CubeSat mission by the University of Minnesota for a technology demonstration mission to advance the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of a new timing and navigation sensor for CubeSats from TRL 5 to 7.

The Gamma Ray Incidence Detector (GRID) sensor being developed is a gamma-ray (and hard x-ray) detector optimized for making accurate positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) measurements. In operation, it will use signals of opportunity (e.g., naturally occurring gamma-ray emissions for sources such as Gamma-Ray Bursts or GRBs) as navigation and timing beacons akin to GPS satellites.

It was selected in 2017 by NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) to be launched as part of the ELaNa program. It was launched on board of Cygnus CRS-12 to the ISS, where it was deployed on 19 February 2020.

EXACT (Experiments for X-Ray Characterization and Timing) is an identical satellite sponsored by the USAF University Nanosat Program.