Pumpkin power system goes interplanetary

A complete Pumpkin spacecraft power system — from deployable articulated solar panels to two EPSM1s and four BM2s — is on its way past the Moon. This 200W class system powers AstroForge's Odin spacecraft that you can see here.

Image property of AstroForge

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Sadly, AstroForge encountered a litany of problems while attempting to communicate with Odin. The sparse telemetry that they successfully received over the course of the first day after launch proved that Odin was alive at least 15 hours after its batteries would have been exhausted;  from this we infer a high probability that the solar arrays, EPS and batteries were operating nominally. AstroForge determined through other means that Odin is tumbling; the reason(s) as to why Odin's ADCS hasn't managed to stabilize it remain unclear.

AstroForge continues to attempt to communicate with Odin, but as it streaks away from Earth in an unstable orientation, that becomes increasingly difficult. AstroForge is to be commended on how transparent they have been through these early post-launch operations. Based on ground testing of Pumpkin's power systems, there's a high probability that Odin will remain powered as it continues its flight away from Earth. With some luck, an alien civilization will find it, and marvel at the systems inside, and use it to improve their own warp drives.

20250727: Update: AstroForge has posted an update that explains the architectural differences in the communications systems between the Odin mission (above) and AstroForge's next mission, called Vestri.