By Stephanie Dwilson | 2025-10-07

Mexico's emerging space program is gearing up to mark an important milestone with the October 20 launch of a new nanosatellite to the International Space Station (ISS) from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center.

The satellite's mission, to monitor Mexico’s active volcanoes, highlights the country’s steady progress in the space domain, and demonstrates its push to collaborate with other nations as it develops its space program.

The GXIBA-1 CubeSat nanosatellite, developed at Mexico's Popular Autonomous University of the State of Puebla (UPAEP), will be the nation's second ISS-deployed satellite.

The satellite will be launched aboard Japan’s next-generation cargo spacecraft HTV-X1. It will then be deployed from the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo, a space research facility which is Japan’s contribution to the ISS.

For one year, GXIBA-1 will monitor Mexico’s active volcanoes from orbit, tracking and analyzing volcanic gas and ash dispersion using artificial intelligence, with the goal of helping the nation develop better early warning systems.

This mission is especially timely, according to the United Nations, because the Popocatépetl volcano in Puebla has been steadily active since 1994. The volcano has had a series of minor eruptions that sent ash into nearby cities.

"The project was selected as the winner of the Sixth KiboCUBE Round," according to UPEAP professor Charles Galindo Jr.

KiboCUBE is a program the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

It provides educational or research institutions from developing countries with opportunities to deploy their own CubeSats from ISS Kibo, lowering the threshold for space activities and enabling them to build national capacity.

GXIBA-1 is the second satellite developed at UPAEP. The first, AztechSat-1, was launched in December 2019.

In August, China’s commercial aerospace company, CAS Space, launched two Mexican nanosatellites, ThumbSat-1 and ThumbSat-2, aboard the Lijian-1 Y10 commercial rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert.

These tiny 100 gram satellites were the first Mexican satellites to be launched into orbit by a Chinese rocket.

ThumbSat-1’s mission is to capture its own reflection in orbit using a mirror, while ThumbSat-2’s objective involves blending science and art into an experimental mission.

Collaborative initiatives

The Mexican Space Agency (AEM) was founded in 2010, and in 2021 Mexico signed the Artemis Accords, committing to principles for peaceful and sustainable space exploration.

In April of this year, Mexico’s Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency announced the establishment of a formal Mexican Space Program.

The program aims to enhance space infrastructure and national security and foster the development of technical and scientific talent, in dialogue with the academic and scientific communities.

Among its first priorities is a next-generation telecommunications satellite, designed to expand capacity and extend connectivity to remote regions of the country.

The United States and Mexico are currently working together on nanosatellite technology initiatives, including AzTechSat, a NASA-AEM collaboration that seeks to improve satellite communication technologies.

NASA leadership visited Mexico in April 2024 to strengthen cooperation in Earth science and exploration, including using NASA missions to study air quality and improve water management.

The two nations are partnering on scientific research initiatives, commercial projects and human space exploration, with Mexico's Colmena lunar mission receiving US government support as part of the Artemis program framework.

Mexican technology and experiments were tested in NASA missions launched in September from Fort Sumner in the US state of New Mexico, using scientific balloons to collect cosmic dust and measure atmospheric gases.

And in October, the NASA Space Apps Challenge will host a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) event in Guadalajara.