US rocket engine and microsatellite manufacturer SpaceDev has developed the Modular Microsat Bus (MMB)-100, a 100kg (220lb) three-axis stabilised spacecraft able to carry a 40kg payload.
Expected to cost less than $10 million each, the craft will provide 80W of power for its onboard systems, which include its flight computer, a global positioning system, a star tracker, an S-band transceiver and power conditioning and distribution systems.
The MMB-100 uses Ethernet, USB and RS-422 standards and the Linux operating system to provide “plug-and-play” interfaces.
It is designed as a piggyback payload for Boeing Delta IV and Lockheed Martin Atlas V satellite launchers using the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle secondary payload adapter ring.
The MMB-100 uses technology developed for NASA. Spacedev’s CHIPSat, for NASA, was an internet-based craft with mission control possible from a computer anywhere in the world.
Source: Flight International