CubeSat Clusters

CubeSats • Systems • Missions

A modular CubeSat platform designed for rapid payload integration, reliable bus operations, and scalable multi-satellite missions—from single-unit demos to coordinated constellations.

Quick Facts

Stage: Architecture proven on bench; subsystem integration and testbeds active.
Focus: Robust bus design, payload agility, and scalable ground operations.
Key Tech: Modular EPS and power budgeting, C&DH middleware, ADCS integration path, health & telemetry services, standardized payload connectors.
Interfaces: Clear ICDs across payload, bus services (power, data, timing), and ground tools for planning, commanding, and post-run analysis.
Reliability: Watchdogs, graceful-degradation modes, safe-state logic, and fault reporting for on-orbit resilience.

Highlights

Payload-first architecture with quick-swap mechanical and electrical interfaces.
Bus services abstraction: power, time, storage, and command routed through a lightweight middleware.
Formation-flying readiness: time sync, health beacons, and node identity for multi-sat operations.
Hardware-in-the-loop test racks for end-to-end rehearsals and regression testing.

Overview

The platform emphasizes clean separation between payloads and the spacecraft bus. Teams can slot in sensors or experiments without re-architecting core services, while shared ground tooling supports planning, execution, and data review across multiple vehicles.

Approach

Build upward from fundamentals—power and thermal margins, C&DH services, storage, timing, and fault handling—then integrate payloads through a stable ICD. Validate with benchtop and HIL tests before scaling to multi-unit rehearsals and operations workflows.

Status

Core bus services are integrated with representative payloads on bench. Current work expands automated testing, refines safe-state logic, and exercises procedures for multi-sat operations and data stewardship.

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