The Open Orbit Mission

Vision

We believe real aerospace education should be accessible to all. Our mission is to empower motivated undergraduate students with hands-on experience in designing and manufacturing space hardware. By openly publishing our processes and results, we aim to contribute to the open source community and lower the barriers to entry in space technology.

Mission

Our current focus is the development of a 2U cubesat for Earth observation, with the ambitious goal of providing a continuous livestream of Earth from orbit. This project not only advances our technical skills but also addresses the limitations of existing solutions, such as the International Space Station’s livestream, which frequently suffers from outages, poor framing, and pixel data corruption.

Open Source vs Commercial Solutions

To maximize our chances of mission success, we have thoroughly investigated both commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and open source cubesat bus options. After careful evaluation, we selected the OreSat platform for its proven flight heritage and modular, extensible design.

OreSat Platform Benefits:

• Open source with operational 1U and 2U satellites on-orbit
• Modular design where each PCB is an independent subsystem, making it easy to integrate custom payloads
• Extensible architecture that supports a wide range of custom payloads, ideal for our Earth observation mission
• Flight heritage with proven track record in space

Current Priorities

• Prototyping payloads for Earth observation and livestreaming
• Creating demonstration models for testing and outreach
• Developing ground infrastructure to support mission operations
• Building partnerships with the open source space community

Why This Matters

By building and launching an open source 2U cubesat, we are not only advancing our own education but also contributing valuable resources and documentation to the global aerospace community. Our work aims to inspire and enable the next generation of space engineers, researchers, and enthusiasts.

The democratization of space technology through open source development is transforming how we approach aerospace education and research. By sharing our journey, challenges, and successes, we hope to accelerate this transformation and make space more accessible to everyone.