PICASSO

The Pico-Satellite for Atmospheric and Space Science Observations (PICASSO) was a 3U CubeSat mission aimed at demonstrating the ability of a low-cost nano-satellite to measure the ozone distribution in the stratosphere, the temperature profile up to the mesosphere, and the electron density in the ionosphere.

The PICASSO CubeSat embarked VISION (Visible Spectral Imager for Occultation and Nightglow), an innovative compact hyper-spectral imager exploiting new MEMS-based Fabry-Perot Interferometer technology. This technology allows the imager to operate over a variable spectral range with a 10 nm spectral resolution whilst remaining physically compact. Optimisation of the VISION design for the PICASSO mission was expected to result in stratospheric ozone measurements to 5% accuracy with a vertical resolution of 20 km after post-processing. The 3U CubeSat was originally planned to be launched with the QB50 constellation, however was eventually launched as a piggyback opportunity on the Vega launcher into Sun Synchronous Orbit.