ABSTRACT.  The INPE-UFSM’s NANOSATC-BR, CubeSats Development Program started in 2008. Currently, the Program counts with two CubeSats: the NANOSATC-BR1 (1U) launched in 2014 and still in operation & the NANOSATC-BR2 (2U), under development, which is expected to be launched in the last quarter of 2019. In this article, the scientific and technological results of the NANOSATC-BR1 and the finalization of NANOSATC-BR2 are presented. Considering the Capacity Building, the major target of the Program, the paper emphasizes the involvement of Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM undergraduate/graduate students in the conception, development and operation of NANOSATC-BR1, as well as the participation of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - INPE graduate students in the onboard data handling (OBDH) software subsystem development, verification and validation for the NANOSATC-BR2. In addition, the collaborations of other Space Science, Engineering and Computer Science institutions involved in Brazil and abroad are discussed. The Program has received financial support from the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC). Keywords: cubesats, nanosatellites, capacity building. RESUMO. O programa NANOSATC-BR, Desenvolvimento de CubeSats, parceria INPE – UFSM, teve início em 2008. Atualmente, o Programa conta com dois CubeSats: o NANOSATC-BR1 (1U), lançado em 2014 e ainda em operação, e o NANOSATC-BR2 (2U), que está em desenvolvimento e tem expectativa de lançamento no último trimestre de 2019. Nesse artigo, a finalização do desenvolvimento do NANOSATC-BR2 e os resultados científicos e tecnológicos do NANOSATC-BR1 são apresentados. Considerando a Capacitação Profissional, o maior objetivo do Programa, o artigo dá ênfase ao envolvimento dos alunos de graduação na concepção, desenvolvimento e operação do NANOSATC-BR1, ao mesmo tempo em que enfatiza a participação dos alunos de pós-graduação do INPE no desenvolvimento, verificação e validação do Subsistema de Computador de Bordo para o NANOSATC-BR2. Além disso, colaborações de outras instituições de Ciência Espacial, Engenharia e Institutos de computação aplicada do Brasil e Exterior, são igualmente discutidas. O Programa recebeu suporte financeiro da Agência Espacial Brasileira (AEB) e do Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações (MCTIC). Palavras-chave: cubesats, nanosatélites, formação de recursos humanos.

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With the advent of the nanosat/cubesat revolution, new opportunities have appeared to develop and launch small (∼ 1000 cm 3 ), low-cost (∼ US$ 1M) experiments in space in very short timeframes (∼ 2 years). In the field of high-energy astrophysics, in particular, it is a considerable challenge to design instruments with compelling science and competitive capabilities that can fit in very small satellite buses such as a cubesat platform, and operate them with very limited resources. Here we describe a hard X-ray (30-200 keV) experiment, LECX ("Localizador de Explosões Cósmicas de Raios X" -Locator of X-Ray Cosmic Explosions), that is capable of detecting and localizing within a few degrees events like Gamma-Ray Bursts and other explosive phenomena in a 2U-cubesat platform, at a rate of ∼5 events year −1 . In the current gravitational wave era of astronomy, a constellation or swarm of small spacecraft carrying instruments such as LECX can be a very cost-effective way to search for electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave events produced by the coalescence of compact objects.

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