One Year On-Orbit Results of Improved Bus, LoRa Demonstration and Novel Backplane Mission of a 1U CubeSat Constellation

Abstract

The BIRDS series from Kyushu Institute of Technology has deployed 1U CubeSat constellations from International Space Station since 2017. BIRDS-3 was deployed in June 2019. Lessons learnt from BIRDS-1 and BIRDS-2 have been used to improve the bus system of BIRDS-3. Improvements have been made in On-Board Computer, Electrical Power and Communication systems. BIRDS-3 has implemented novel Backplane Mission which uses SoftCIB; an in-house designed software defined backplane interface board. The mission has the potential to standardize interface and cut down on development time. BIRDS-3 project has placed a LoRa module to check its performance in space. The module has the potential for future low-cost, low-powered Store and Forward mission and CubeSat communication system. This paper provides detailed information on the improved BIRDS bus system, LoRa Demonstration and Backplane Mission designs, and on-orbit results since its deployment in June 2019. The results presented are based on cumulative operation time of three years for three satellites operating each for a year. The satellites are functional and will remain in orbit until summer of 2021.