Stefano Carletta , School of Aerospace Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome
BOREALIS is a 6U CubeSat mission, funded by the Italian Space Agency, designed to investigate the effects of the space environment on microbial biofilm-formation using a lab-on-chip device coupled with a fluorescence microscope and thin-film photosensors and actuators.
The operative mission comprises CubeSat deployment in LEO, where a set of biofilm formation experiments are conducted, then transfer to MEO to examine the effects of increased radiation exposure. The largest orbital transfer ever performed by a CubeSat deployed in LEO, the design of the satellite and the maneuver, along with that of the payload, constitute a major challenge for the mission.