The Italian microsatellite mission LICIACube as an enabler for innovative strategies in interplanetary exploration and planetary defense

In the last decade an increasing number of CubeSat-class spacecraft have been involved in the execution of space missions, operating at distances from our home planet ranging between Low-Earth Orbit to Mars. In particular, the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube) mission of Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI, Italian Space Agency) has contributed to the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) by witnessing, on September 26th, 2022, the successful impact of DART spacecraft with the asteroid (65803) Didymos I Dimorphos, and revealing the immediate aftermaths of the event while performing a quick flyby, successfully participating in the first Planetary Defense real-scale test ever conducted by humanity. LICIACube mission, leveraging on national competences and together with the international collaboration with the DART mission, has been able to improve the operational, technical, managerial and scientific know-how at national level, together with creating new records in interplanetary exploration. The concept of modularity in space segments, for the achievement of ever complex mission goals, has recently found favourable conditions thanks to the increasing capabilities of smaller platforms. In particular, the present work aims also at highlighting and describing the value of the LICIACube contribution in validating and verifying the outcome of the kinetic impact method with the presence of a proximity observer spacecraft.