ORB-8 / ORB-16 — Mid-size Nanosatellite Platform
OrbAstro
OrbAstro's ORB-8/ORB-16 are mid-size nanosatellite platforms: 5.2-7.9 kg bus mass, 9.8-27.1 kg payload capacity, 72 W solar, 144 Wh battery, Zynq Ultrascale+ OBC, LEO/MEO/GEO capable, priced from £350,000.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Payload capacity
- 9.8 kg
- Power
- 14 W
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
- Variants
- ORB-8 (6.5U payload) and ORB-16 (16U payload)
- Bus mass (wet)
- ORB-8: 5.2 kg; ORB-16: 7.9 kg
- Max payload mass
- ORB-8: 9.8 kg; ORB-16: 27.1 kg
- Max payload volume
- ORB-8: 6.5U; ORB-16: 16U
- Solar power generation
- 72 W (expandable to 168 W)
- Battery capacity
- 144 Wh (ORB-8 expandable to 288 Wh; ORB-16 to 576 Wh)
- Continuous payload power
- 14 W (upgradeable to 154 W)
- Peak power
- 2 kW
- OBC
- Zynq Ultrascale+ MPSoC 5EG, 4 GB LPDDR4
- Orbit
- LEO (12+ yr), MEO (5 yr), GEO (10+ yr)
- Operations service
- £8,000 / month
- Price (platform)
- From £350,000
About
The ORB-8 and ORB-16 are OrbAstro’s mid-size nanosatellite platforms designed for higher-performance Earth observation, science, and commercial missions that exceed the capability ceiling of CubeSat form factors. The ORB-8 features a 5.2 kg (wet) bus mass supporting up to 9.8 kg of payload within 6.5U of payload volume. The ORB-16 scales to 7.9 kg (wet) bus with up to 27.1 kg payload in 16U volume, for missions requiring larger optics, higher-powered RF payloads, or redundant subsystems. Both variants share the same core avionics architecture centred on a Zynq Ultrascale+ MPSoC (5EG) processing platform with 4 GB LPDDR4, providing significant on-board computation for AI-driven payload processing or multi-beam communications payloads. Power generation is 72 W (expandable to 168 W with additional solar panels) with 144 Wh battery (expandable to 288/576 Wh depending on variant). Continuous payload power is 14 W, upgradeable to 154 W, with 2 kW peak capability. The platforms are qualified for LEO lifetimes exceeding 12 years, MEO up to 5 years, and GEO up to 10+ years. Operations are provided as a managed service at £8,000 per month. OrbAstro is a UK-based satellite bus manufacturer.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.