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报告题目：The University of Chile space exploration program: past, present and future

报告人：智利大学空间与行星探测实验室Prof. Marcos Diaz

邀请人：宋淑丽（研究员）

一. 会议时间：2026年1月20日（周二）上午10:00

二. 会议地点：天文大厦三楼中会议室

Abstract:

Since the 1990s, Chile has conducted space activities primarily driven by the operational needs of its national defense sector. However, this focus on mission operations has left limited opportunities for science-driven initiatives. To address this gap, the University of Chile launched a strategic effort in 2011 to develop scientific space missions, capitalizing on the growing adoption of standardized satellites like CubeSats.

Through its Space and Planetary Exploration Laboratory (SPEL - https://spel.cl/), the university has developed four CubeSat missions to advance this research agenda. SPEL is a multidisciplinary research facility within the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Chile. Thus far SPEL has developed four nanosatellite missions, which includes the 1U CubeSat SUCHAI and the 3U CubeSats SUCHAI-2, SUCHAI-3, and PlantSat. Launched in mid-2017, SUCHAI was the first satellite developed in Chile; it studied the South Atlantic Anomaly and performed several technology demonstrations [Gonzalez et al., 2019]. The other three satellites were launched in April 2022 as Chile’s first satellite swarm [Garrido et al., 2023]. These missions have been instrumental in studying radiation belts, assessing satellite system effects, and evaluating novel elements (including biology) for future scientific endeavors. The SPEL teams is currently developing a new 3U CubeSat (scheduled launch for mid-2026) and three experiments (internal and externals) to be run in the International Space Station (2026 and 2027).

In this presentation will be presented the main results achieved thus far, and the plans to keep contributing in space science.

Prof. Marcos Díaz is currently an associate professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Chile. He received his Electrical Engineering degree in 2001 from the University of Chile and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 2004 and 2009, respectively, from Boston University, USA. His research interests are related to the study and development of instruments, systems, and techniques for space research and space-based astronomy. He previously worked as a research assistant at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, MIT Haystack Observatory, and Boston University's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. He oversees the Space and Planetary Exploration Laboratory (SPEL - https://spel.cl/), a multidisciplinary laboratory where the university's space program is being developed. SPEL's track record includes four successful CubeSat missions, with an active pipeline featuring a fifth CubeSat launching in Q3 2026 and three ISS missions scheduled for Q2 2026 (internal), Q3 2026 (external) and Q4 2027.