Why CubeSats?

In the course of developing this service, we have been asked, "Why make a dedicated launch service for CubeSats? What can CubeSats do?" This has led to many interesting projects and proven how valuable CubeSats are in helping the space industry. We have found high-cadence launches of dedicated 3U launch vehicles can speed up the development of space technology and revolutionize the space industry.

It should be noted that the question is not just about CubeSats, but also dedicated launch. If we intend to perform around 100 launches per year (see our Mission page), that suggests roughly 2 launches per week on average. Each launch uses the orbital inclination and launch timing that particular customer prefers. This can be useful for rendezvous with celestial bodies or other satellites, for example repair missions, or for optimal coverage over certain regions on Earth with telecommunications or observation.

What is a CubeSat?

CubeSats are the most common form of nanosatellite (using the common definition of the term: a satellite of 1-10 kg). The formal CubeSat standards document and overviews are freely available at www.cubesat.org/cubesatinfo. They specify the size, mass, and certain elements of how one operates. CubeCab's launch contracts for CubeSats incorporate the specification by reference, in part to minimize interaction between launch vehicle and satellite so as to reduce the chance of failure while providing service to the maximum number of customers.

A 3U CubeSat is 3 units of a CubeSat stacked on top of each other to build a satellite that is 10cm x 10cm x 30cm that holds up to 6 kg of payload mass. This standard helps satellite launchers build launch vehicles to a standard reusable size that is easily manufactured. It also means there are vendors that provide components designed to the CubeSat standard, anywhere from frames and controllers all the way to full-up kits.

This size limitation only applies while en route to space. After a CubeSat reaches orbit, it can deploy structures beyond that volume such as extendable antennas, solar panels that unfold to form "wings" that can track the Sun, or even inflatable lenses to get around the physics limitations of small lenses. Since the CubeSat standard is widely used, there are a growing number of vendors who make deployable structures and other features to put into a CubeSat dimensions, to the point of being able to buy many components off the shelf.

Some of the many uses of CubeSats:

• The basic uses of most satellites, Earth observation and telecommunications, are entirely possible with CubeSats. For CubeSats, these most often take the form of private-label or educational projects adapting well-tested, commodity technology.
• "Earth observation" includes many sub-disciplines and uses. Obtaining or verifying geodata, weather tracking, fire tracking, deforestation (and reforestation) tracking, agricultural inspection, construction inspection (especially large or remote projects), logistics monitoring, aerial survey, prospecting, virtual tourism...the list is continually expanding. Visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, radar (ground-penetrating and otherwise), microwave, x-ray, even audio (the air at 400 km may be wispy thin but it is not a complete vacuum) have all been used. And that's just looking back down on Earth. Satellites pointed outward can get clearer pictures of space, without Earth's atmosphere in the way.
• "Telecommunications" includes many forms of moving information from one point to another. Disaster areas are easily given phone and Internet service this way: no matter the natural disaster down on Earth, the satellites keep spinning overhead. This works for rural service too, if the telco companies will not run lines out where you are. Ultimate privacy can be had from owning your own communications link, from satellite phone to satellite phone. Sometimes the communications targets are not even on Earth: some people seek to host private data centers in space. See our presentation on Rapid Launch Keeping US Connected containing the following graphic.

• As the CubeSat standard was invented for academic use, it should come as no surprise that many are mostly about teaching students how to build and use satellites, with their actual function in orbit a secondary concern. CubeCab aims to develop a superior version of this use: rather than waiting years for a launch, a university or high school could place an order in August or September for a launch around next March and teach a class lasting an academic year: three months teaching theory, three months building a CubeSat as a class project, see it launched, three months operating the satellite, then deorbit the satellite as part of a final exam (so it does not become orbital debris).
• Likewise, CubeSats have hosted no end of science experiments. The weightless environment of orbit allows certain processes that simply are not possible on Earth, but often do not need a lot of mass to test out. This includes an increasing number of biological experiments, such as testing plant growth without gravity. There have even been wooden CubeSats, and designs for a CubeSat that was a plant (with an internal reservoir of carbon dioxide and water).
• Testing of materials in orbit, whether leaving the samples up or eventually recovering them, is more affordably done with a CubeSat. There have also been pilot projects of manufacturing processes that can be done with better quality in freefall.
• Advanced rapid development of space hardware, especially in combination with a rapid-launch service such as CubeCab's: get a batch of launches close together, maybe one per week licensed as a block, then build something, test it on orbit, make a new satellite from lessons learned, and have it on the launch site by the next launch. Building a new satellite each week might be difficult for larger satellites, but CubeCab has spoken with those who can provide capability to make iterative CubeSats once per week on this schedule for advanced developers.
• On-orbit servicing: if a massive, expensive satellite breaks on orbit, launching a small repair drone to it can be far less costly, and get the satellite's capability back online far faster, than launching a replacement. Certain companies have discussed designing satellites with CubeSat-shaped upgrade slots, so that new technology can be launched to existing satellites rather than having to repeat multi-year development processes.
• There are several non-dual-use military applications, which this list leaves to the imagination.