Science

GREENCUBE (IO-117)

Italian University CubeSat (MEO Plant Biology + Amateur Radio) · Sapienza University of Rome (S5Lab) / ASI

GreenCube (IO-117), a 3U CubeSat built by Sapienza University of Rome's S5Lab in partnership with ENEA and the University of Naples Federico II, launched July 13, 2022 on the maiden flight of Europe's Vega-C rocket. GreenCube carries a genuinely novel experiment: a pressurized, autonomous biological laboratory growing microgreens (Brassicaceae seeds) in orbit — the farthest-ever plant cultivation experiment from Earth at launch, monitoring air composition, humidity, lighting, and plant growth via onboard cameras. Deployed into an unusually high medium-Earth orbit around 3,700 miles, GreenCube also became the first amateur radio satellite ever to operate from MEO, its 70cm-band digipeater giving ham radio operators worldwide passes lasting up to 90 minutes with contact ranges spanning entire continents. Its amateur radio payload was later handed to AMSAT Italia for continued community use after the primary science mission concluded.