Students on the ALL-STAR team at the Colorado Space Grant Consortium in Boulder, Colorado are working in cooperation with Lockheed Martin to develop a low-cost 3U CubeSat bus capable of supporting the 1 year on-orbit operation of a variety of space-based research payloads that can be configured and ready for flight in 6 months through a simplified payload hardware and software interface.
The 3U Cubesat bus will be reproducible by conforming to a standard ALL-STAR interface, integration, and CubeSat structure while allowing the versatility necessary for a variety of small payloads. The satellite will have fully functional subsystems operating on the same amount of power as a night light. It measures 10cm by 10cm by 30cm, and weighs nearly 4 kilograms (8.8 lbs).
This program leads the way for many similar CubeSat projects in the future of Colorado Space Grant Consortium.