The OptSat high end micro satellite series

The demand for low cost multi satellite scientific missions is rising as their capabilities evolve. In this presentation we shall present the newly developed OptSat small sat. family and overview the status of current and future small sat scientific missions.

To date the OptSat small satellite family includes three platforms:

• Hobbit: 2U-6U cube sat
• OptSat-180: 12U-16U cube sat for small sized payloads
• OptSat-500: a software defined micro-satellite for medium sized payloads

Our small sat architecture relies on know-how components and systems developed over 30 years of providing all Israeli observation satellites, while implementing advanced features to support the demands of new-space missions:

• Proprietary QA and M&P policies were tailored in order to suite more rapid / serial manufacturing and integration process, with minimal to no compromise on reliability and mission assurance rates.
• Space proven avionics suite for nano satellites supports most platforms and missions.
• Software defined Payload processing unit supports both optical and radio payloads.
• All platforms are equipped with advanced optical payloads and may support other payloads according to mission requirements.

Several scientific missions are currently being carried out:

• BGUSAT (2017-present) for cloud imaging and weather studies in SWIR
• SAMSON (exp. 2020) for geolocation and autonomous cluster flight demonstration
• UltraSat (exp. 2022) for early detection of cosmic transient phenomena

Finally we shall review future scientific missions and opportunities.