Sam Holdcroft

• Retselis, Anastasios-Faidon; Knutsen, Elise Wright; Holdcroft, Sam; Viet, Shayla; Wahlén, Rebecka & Virdis, Mario [Show all 19 contributors for this article] (2026). CENSSAT-1: A space weather mission and an educational platform. In Detrell, Gisela; Alarcia, Ramón María García; Messina, Vincenzo & Kinnaird, Alexander (Ed.), Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on Space Educational Activities (SSEA). Technical University of Munich. p. 852–857. doi: 10.14459/2026MD1857465. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Symposium on Space Educational Activities (SSEA), organised by the European Space Agency’s Education Office, provides a forum for university students, professionals working in education, and other professionals in industry or agencies to present and discuss their experiences organising, running and/or participating in Educational Activities related to Space. After successful past events in Padova (2015), Budapest (2018), Leicester (2019), and Barcelona (2022), the 5th SSEA was held in April 2026 (the 8th, 9th, and 10th) in the TUM Aerospace Campus in Willy-Messerschmitt-Strasse 5, Taufkirchen, Germany. The local organisation team was led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM), involving Professors, PostDocs, PhD Candidates, and Master’s and Bachelor’s students, in close collaboration with the Bavarian aerospace ecosystem partners.

View all works in NVA

• Kohfeldt, Anja; Wahlén, Rebecka; Holdcroft, Sam; Teodoro, Luis Filipe Alves & Werner, Stephanie C. (2025). Element abundance mapping with the SER3NE Gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer. doi: 10.5194/epsc-dps2025-1439. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Selene’s Explorer for Roughness, Regolith, Resources, Neutrons and Elements (SER3NE) is a proposed small satellite mission in lunar orbit, aiming to characterize the lunar surface to unravel its volatile origin and delivery processes, in addition to uncovering the geological processes that shaped the Moon. Global element abundance mapping will prospect lunar resources for ISRU at future landing sites. Further, the mission is aiming to determine a more precise space-based neutron lifetime and the orbital evolution of the Earth-Moon system. To achieve these goals, SER3NE will host three instruments: a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer (GRiNS, by UiO), the Lunar Infrared Point spectrometer (LIPS, by ROB/BIRA-IASB), and the SER3NE Laser Altimeter (S3LA, by DLR).Here, we present the current Gamma-Ray-including-Neutrons Spectrometer (GRiNS) design, performance specifications and preliminary results of the GRiNS laboratory demonstrator. GRiNS is part of the CLUNGAS family, that was reported on earlier.1By detecting gamma-ray and neutron radiation moderated by the lunar surface after GCR impact, GRiNS will be able to create global compositional maps and their abundances of different elements, such as Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Si, Ti, Th, as well as hydrogen. In previous missions2 this was demonstrated with LaBr3 as main gamma-ray detector, proving the suitability of this technology. The default approach for hydrogen mapping are He3 pressurized tubes3, however, recently mission approaches with scintillator-based neutron detectors were launched4. In our approach we combine gamma-ray and neutron detection in one hybrid detector for reducing weight, cost, and space, and enabling deployment on small satellite missions.   GRiNS is a compact detector  capable of gamma-ray detection in the range of 100 keV to 8 MeV as well as the detection of thermal to epithermal neutrons. There shall be two detector units, facing nadir (for mapping) and zenith (in addition for neutron lifetime), as depicted in fig.1. The comparison of the ascending and descending gravitational bound thermal neutrons allow for the determination of the neutron lifetime along their flight path. The primary detecting material is a CLLBC (Cs2LiLa(Br,Cl)6:Ce), a dual-mode scintillator capable of both high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy and thermal to epi-thermal neutron detection. The preliminary detector layout aims for a 2x2 array where CLLBC is accompanied by lanthanum bromide (LaBr3), a crystal scintillator used in previous lunar mission2 for high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy, for improved gamma-ray – neutron discrimination. CLLBC and LaBr3 provide a good spectral resolution of

• Holdcroft, Sam; Bocci, Alessio; Scholtz, Laura-Kristin; Retselis, Anastasios-Faidon; Knutsen, Elise Wright & Jebali, Ramsey Al [Show all 20 contributors for this article] (2025). CENSSAT-1 mission concept: a CubeSat for space weather monitoring. doi: 10.5281/ZENODO.17036544. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper presents an introduction to the CENSSAT-1 mission, an 8U CubeSat, which aims to study space situational awareness. It will investigate the effects of space weather on Earth from a 500 km orbit, using a camera, multi-purpose particle detector, and a Langmuir probe. It will additionally monitor space debris using a radar instrument, and conduct experiments on optimal control and drag based manoeuvring. CENSSAT-1 is aiming for launch in 2027.

View all works in NVA