1,2,- 1SSC Space, European Space Astronomy Centre, A Coruña, Spain (alejandro.cardesin@ext.esa.int)
- 2Paneureka/LMD/IPSL/SSI, Paris, France
- 3Insituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Granada, Spain
- *A full list of authors appears at the end of the abstract
We summarize here the contributions of an international consortium of atmospheric and magnetospheric scientists, for the study and development of future Mars missions based on small satellites and compact instrumentation.
Past and present Mars orbiters have focused mostly on targeted, high-resolution observations, but lacked continuous global coverage. Yet key atmospheric phenomena—such as clouds and dust storms—and space weather processes, including solar wind interactions, aurorae, and radiation, require simultaneous, global, and sustained measurements to properly characterize Mars’ dynamic climate and environment. Continuous monitoring is essential both for scientific understanding and for enabling future robotic and human exploration.
“Mars GRADIVUS” is a Spanish ESA Prodex study led by a collaboration between INDRA/Deimos, IAA, Aurora SSC Space, INTA, UPV, and Thales Alenia Space. Its goal is to assess the technical feasibility of cost-effective CubeSats delivering high-value science at Mars using a New Space approach. Conceived as a flexible piggyback payload, it aims to demonstrate the scientific viability of a CubeSat dedicated to monitoring the Martian atmosphere and space weather. [Cardesin 2025, and proceedings of CPESS-8, Paths2Space & SEA2026]
Building upon this study, the “MACAWS” (Mars Constellation for Atmosphere and Space Weather Studies) mini-F proposal to ESA is a low-cost constellation of three spacecraft in high-altitude orbit (~17,000 km). Designed for the 2030s, MACAWS would provide the first quasi-global, simultaneous, high-cadence monitoring of Mars’ lower atmosphere and near-space environment across the full diurnal cycle, with a modular architecture supporting international contributions. [Montabone 2025 & 2026: EPSC-DPS2025 and 46th COSPAR 2026]
These efforts align with the priorities of European Space Agency (Voyage 2050, TerraNovae2030+), NASA’s Mars Exploration Future Program, and the International Mars Exploration Working Group (IMEWG), through its Access to Mars and Infrastructure for Lower-Cost Missions (LCM).
Keywords: Mars, Small Satellites, Mars Atmosphere, Space Weather, Global Monitoring
References:
[Cardesin 2025]: Mars Small Satellite Missions: Mars Gradivus Study and New ESA Mini-F Proposal for Mars Global Meteorology and Space Weather. CPESS-8 Proceedings https://spainportugal-eps.org/images/cpess-8/20250314093504_cpess-8-cardesinmoinelo.pdf
[Montabone 2026]: The Mars Constellation for Atmosphere and Space Weather Studies (Macaws) Mission Concept. 46th COSPAR Scientific Assembly 2026
[Montabone 2025]: Science Case for the MArs Constellation for Atmosphere and space Weather (MACAWS) mission concept EPSC-DPS2025-2067 https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc-dps2025-2067
L. Montabone, A. Cardesin-Moinelo; M. Lopez-Valverde, J. Hernandez-Bernal, B. Sanchez-Cano, C. Newman, L. Neary, I. R. Thomas, G. Liuzzi, M. Patel, O. Karatekin, F. Oliva, J. Alday, Y. Williame, F. Forget, L. Soret, R. Young, J. Holmes, Y. Leseigneur, A. Stcherbinine, E. Millour, T. Bertrand, F. Daerden, S. Robert, C. Edwards, M. Wolff, M. Smith, J. Mason, R. Lillis, H. Nakagawa, O. Raukunen, S. Barabash, M. Wieser, M. Holmström, E. W. Knutsen, Y. Harada, S. Ivanovski, S. Viet, T. McConnochie, M. Lopez-Puertas, F. Gonzalez-Galindo, A. Sánchez-Lavega, R. Hueso, T. del Río-Gaztelurrutia, D. Toledo, I. Arruego, V. Apestigue, T. Belenguer, M. Diaz-Michelena, J.A. Rodriguez-Manfredi, J. Pla-García, A. Mahieux, S. Migliari
How to cite: Cardesin-Moinelo, A., Montabone, L., Lopez-Valverde, M. A., and Hernandez-Bernal, J. and the Mars GRADIVUS and MACAWS science consortia: Small Missions for Mars Global Meteorology and Space Weather: Mars GRADIVUS Study and MACAWS Mini-F Proposal, Europlanet Science Congress 2026, The Hague, The Netherlands, 7–11 Sep 2026, EPSC2026-928, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2026-928, 2026.
