1. Studies for the Design of Customized Orbital Platforms for Small Satellites
Carlos O. Maidana
MAIDANA RESEARCH / CubeSat Solutions
Quai du Montblanc 33, Swiss Post Box: 102197, CH - 1201 Geneva – Switzerland
2885 Sanford Ave SW #25601, Grandville, MI 49418 - United States of America
Chiang Mai University, Department of Mechanical Engineering
239 Huay Kaew Rd., Muang District, 50200 Chiang Mai, Thailand
Idaho State University, College of Science and Engineering,
921 S. 8th Ave., Pocatello, ID 83209-8060 – United States of America
carlos.omar.maidana@maidana-research.ch | maidanac@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The small satellite market is growing tremendously with the continued use of the CubeSat standard,
technology developments, government programs, and furthering of applications. Projections based on
announced and anticipated plans of developers indicate that between 2,000 and 4,000 nano- / micro-
satellites will be launched from 2015 through 2020. While 1 kg (1U) CubeSats are still widely used, 25%
of future nanosatellites are in the increasingly popular 6 kg mass class. One of the keys for the low
development cost of small satellites is standardization and the use of commercially available, off-the-
shelf, components with radiation-hardened and military-grade parts used only as needed. Customized
orbital platforms and standards for the bio-pharmaceutical, electronics, communications, scientific and
security sectors are currently being studied and conceptually designed. An overview of such activities and
future developments is presented.