CORVUS — 6U CubeSat Platform with Synthetic Aperture Radar
RoInSpace (RISE, Romanian InSpace Engineering)
CORVUS is RoInSpace’s 6U CubeSat platform that serves as both an in-orbit technology demonstrator and a commercial Earth observation asset. The spacecraft hosts a miniaturised Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload enabling all-weather, day-and-night imaging of Earth’s surface at resolutions relevant for maritime monitoring, infrastructure change detection, flood mapping, and agricultural monitoring. CORVUS also served as […]
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Mass
- 8 kg
- Power
- 20 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
- Form factor
- 6U CubeSat (30 × 20 × 10 cm)
- Mass
- ~8 kg
- Payload
- Miniaturised Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
- Navigation
- OrbFIX GNSS receiver (TRL 9, flight demonstrated)
- ADCS
- 3-axis (reaction wheels + magnetorquers)
- Communications
- UHF/S-band
- Onboard processing
- FPGA-based SAR signal processor
- Power
- Deployable solar panels; LiPo battery; 20–30 W average
- Deployment
- ISIPOD-compatible dispensers; rideshare compatible
- Applications
- Maritime monitoring, change detection, flood mapping, agriculture
About
CORVUS is RoInSpace’s 6U CubeSat platform that serves as both an in-orbit technology demonstrator and a commercial Earth observation asset. The spacecraft hosts a miniaturised Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload enabling all-weather, day-and-night imaging of Earth’s surface at resolutions relevant for maritime monitoring, infrastructure change detection, flood mapping, and agricultural monitoring. CORVUS also served as the in-orbit validation vehicle for the OrbFIX GNSS receiver, achieving TRL 9 for the navigation payload through on-orbit demonstration. The 6U form factor (30 × 20 × 10 cm, approximately 8 kg) is designed for rideshare deployment from ISIPOD or similar CubeSat dispensers on commercial launch vehicles. The platform features three-axis attitude control via reaction wheels and magnetorquers, UHF/S-band communications, onboard FPGA-based signal processing for SAR data, and a lithium-polymer battery with deployable solar panels providing average power of 20–30 W in orbit. CORVUS demonstrates the viability of small-satellite SAR as a low-cost alternative to conventional large aperture radar satellites, with revisit times compatible with small constellation deployment.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.