ORB-6 — 6U CubeSat Satellite Platform
OrbAstro
OrbAstro's ORB-6 is a 6U CubeSat bus: up to 10 kg total, 6.5 kg payload, 72 Wh battery, 12.5 W orbital-average solar, 0.1° pointing, electric propulsion, priced at £85,000.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Payload capacity
- 6.5 kg
- Power
- 400 W
- Design life
- 10 years
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Form factor
- 6U CubeSat
- Total spacecraft mass
- Up to 10 kg
- Payload mass
- Up to 6.5 kg
- Payload volume
- ~5U
- Battery capacity
- 72 Wh (upgradeable to 144 Wh, +£5,000)
- Solar power (orbital average)
- 12.5 W (expandable to 43 W with deployable arrays, +£15,000)
- Payload power (orbital average)
- 8 Wh (upgradeable to 43 Wh)
- Max payload power consumption
- <400 W
- Pointing accuracy
- 0.1°
- Pointing knowledge
- 0.01°
- Propulsion
- Electric, 232 µN max thrust
- Interfaces
- I2C, SPI, USART, CAN, LVDS, PCIe, USB 2.0, Ethernet
- Orbit
- LEO / SSO
- Design life
- 8-10 years
- Price (base bus)
- £85,000 (+ £180,000 launch)
About
The ORB-6 is OrbAstro’s 6U CubeSat satellite platform, scaling up from the ORB-3 to accommodate larger payloads for Earth observation, technology demonstration, and commercial applications. It carries up to 6.5 kg of payload within approximately 5U of payload volume at a total spacecraft mass of up to 10 kg. Power is provided by body-mounted and optional deployable solar panels delivering 12.5 W orbital average (expandable to 43 W with deployable arrays for an additional £15,000), backed by a 72 Wh battery (upgradeable to 144 Wh for £5,000). Payload power is 8 Wh orbital average, expandable to 43 Wh. The ADCS achieves 0.1° pointing accuracy with 0.01° knowledge. Electric propulsion delivers up to 232 µN for orbit maintenance and end-of-life deorbit. Comprehensive digital interfaces including I2C, SPI, USART, CAN, LVDS, PCIe, USB 2.0, and Ethernet support complex payload integration. The ORB-6 is designed for 8-10 years of mission life in LEO/SSO. OrbAstro (Orbital Astronautics Ltd.) is a UK-based satellite bus manufacturer.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.