"Vega's Winged CubeSats: Formation-Keeping without Fuel"
Spain's ANSER CubeSats, set to launch on Europe's Vega rocket, will fly in formation and maintain their relative positions using wing-like flaps that take advantage of the airflow at the top of Earth's atmosphere. The three CubeSats, working together as a single satellite, will image Iberian waters and use a specially-developed algorithm to plan aerodynamic maneuvers. The mission aims to demonstrate the operational capabilities of small satellites for Earth observation and will be limited to a few years, with the possibility of replacing CubeSats to continue the mission.