Short answers, pulled from the story.
LEOPARD (Light intensity Experiment with On-orbit Positioning and satellite Ranging Demonstration) is a 3U CubeSat developed jointly by Kyushu Institute of Technology and Nanyang Technological University, with students from 17 countries contributing to the project. It measures 10cm by 10cm by 30cm.
LEOPARD launched on the 26th of October 2025 aboard a Japanese H3 Launch Vehicle and was transported to the International Space Station on HTV-X1. It was deployed from the ISS's Kibo module on the 3rd of February 2026 at 08:20 UTC.
OPERA (Onboard Processing of Earth-origin one-way Radio ranging signal) demonstrates orbital positioning without GPS. Earth-based parabolic antennas synchronized with one another transmit S-band signals at predetermined times; LEOPARD measures arrival time delays and Doppler shifts to estimate its own position with an expected accuracy of a few kilometers. The OPERA device occupies 0.5U of the satellite's volume.
The Single-Event Latch-up payload carries two microcontrollers running identical functions: one using radiation-hardened microchips and one using commercial off-the-shelf components. Comparing their performance in orbit reveals how much protection radiation-hardened hardware provides against single-event effects caused by ionizing space radiation.
The MSC payload photographs Earth's atmosphere when the Sun is below the horizon to capture horizon glow. It uses an RGB camera and a near-infrared camera to observe both Rayleigh scattering and aerosol scattering in the upper atmosphere simultaneously.
Shape-memory alloy was chosen over traditional springs because it allows a thinner solar panel deployment mechanism. The alloy changes shape when heated, removing the extra space a compressed spring would require inside the satellite.