SPARCS

Mission type| Space telescope (Astrophysics)
Operator| NASA
COSPAR ID| 2026-004?
SATCAT no.| 673??
Start of mission
Launch date| 11 January 2026, 13:44:50 UTC
Rocket| Falcon 9 (booster 1097)
Launch site| Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4
Contractor| SpaceX
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Geocentric
Regime| Dawn/dusk sun-synchronous orbit
Altitude| 500 to 600 km

SPARCS (Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat) is a small space telescope in the CubeSat 6U format (30x20x10 cm at launch) whose objective is to monitor the flares and sunspot activity of low-mass stars of M and K spectral type.[1] The mission selected by NASA is developed and managed by Arizona State University with the participation of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) which provides the telescope and its detectors.[2][3][4]

## Contents

* 1 Objectives
* 2 Timeline
* 3 External links
* 4 References

## Objectives

The objective of the SPARCS mission is to study the ultraviolet emissions of around ten red dwarfs in order to model its impact.[5] SPARCS is with ASTERIA one of the first space astronomy missions using the extremely miniaturized CubeSat format. This new category of satellite opens up prospects in the field of long-term observations of astronomical phenomena thanks to their reduced cost.[6][7]

## Timeline

SPARCS launched on 11 January 2026 on a Falcon 9 rideshare mission "Twilight" together with NASA's Pandora and BlackCAT telescopes.[8][9][10] On 12 March 2026, NASA published the spaceraft's first light images taken on 6 February 2026.[11][12]

## External links

* "Tiny satellite, big discoveries, from campus to cosmos - The Arizona State Press" (in en-US). https://www.statepress.com/article/2025/10/scitech-sparcs-space-nasa.
* "Two New CubeSats to Monitor Nearby Stars and Distant Black Holes - Sky & Telescope". https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/two-new-cubesats-to-monitor-nearby-stars-and-distant-black-holes/.

## References

1. ↑ "SPARCS". https://sparcs.asu.edu/about.
2. ↑ "ASU astronomers to build space telescope to explore nearby stars" (in en). https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/623588.
3. ↑ Ardila, David R. (13 March 2023). "SPARCS: The Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat". JPL. https://uvex2023.caltech.edu/system/media_files/binaries/30/original/UVEX_Ardila_v2_-_David_Ardila.pdf?1680043896.
4. ↑ "Home page | SPARCS". https://sparcs.asu.edu/.
5. ↑ University, Arizona State. "Astronomers to build space telescope to explore nearby stars" (in en). https://phys.org/news/2018-01-astronomers-space-telescope-explore-nearby.html.
6. ↑ "Onboard Dynamic Image Exposure Control for the Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS)". 22 November 2021. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=55401.
7. ↑ SPARCS: The Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat
8. ↑ "NASA's Pandora Satellite, CubeSats to Explore Exoplanets, Beyond". https://www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/406.
9. ↑ "TSIS-2 & Others". https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/7541/.
10. ↑ Davenport, Justin (2026-01-11). "SpaceX's Twilight rideshare mission launches from Vandenberg" (in en-US). https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/01/spacexs-twilight-rideshare-mission-vandenberg/.
11. ↑ "Tiny NASA Spacecraft Delivers Exoplanet Mission’s First Images - NASA" (in en-US). 2026-03-12. https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/astrophysics/exoplanet-science/tiny-nasa-spacecraft-delivers-exoplanet-missions-first-images/.
12. ↑ Khollam, Aamir. "NASA's tiny SPARCS spacecraft sends first images of flaring stars" (in en). https://interestingengineering.com/space/nasa-small-sparcs-spacecraft-image.

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