The Australian government's Defense Science & Technology Group's Buccaneer Risk Mitigation Mission (BRMM) CubeSat launched on Saturday aboard the penultimate Delta II launch, from Vandenburg AFB.  DST Group has been in contact with Buccaneer, successfully  updated some critical configuration parameters, and will now "settle into a normal tempo of spacecraft operations."

Buccaneer is a 3U MISC 3-class nanosatellite with full 3-axis attitude control and RF payload(s). Pumpkin developed the bus, structure, and deployable solar panels, and integrated the UHF, S-band and GPS antennas, Panel Release Mechanisms (PRMs), various bus sensors and other mission-specific components. As part of our typical fixed-firm price (FFP) nanosatellite offerings, this MISC 3 is highly customized for DST Group. Payload integration was verified virtually via CAD exchanges, and then physically in Australia, without any Pumpkin intervention.

Pumpkin is registered with DDTC and can perform ITAR-affected work for entities outside of the USA, subject to license approval.

We wish DST Group the best with their BRRM CubeSat, and hope to work with them again in the future.

Twelve complete 2U CubeSat Kit skeletonized chassis are ready to ship. Each chassis consists of a dual-switch Baseplate Assembly, a 2U Chassis Walls, and a Cover Plate Assembly; all skeletonized. This is a repeat customer in the USA. We wish them luck with their future mission(s)!

NovaWurks is set deploy one of its Hyper-Integrated Satlets (HISats) from the ISS later this week. Pumpkin has partnered with NovaWurks (formerly NGC's NovaWorks) since 2010 on cutting-edge small space technology. In 2010, Pumpkin built the world's first deployable 56W solar array for NGC's NovaWork's Caerus/Mayflower 3U CubeSat, all on a handshake and in ten weeks. More recently, Pumpkin has partnered with NovaWurks on the development of a variety of small satellite technologies, two of which are on the ISS HISat. Pumpkin's space-grade products enable both modular and high-power energy collection within the HISat architecture.

Additionally, Pumpkin advised Stanford University's SSDL on its SNAPS 0.2U-size imager, an autonomous HD-video capture device for tethered use on microsats. The ISS HISat will utilize SNAPS in the upcoming mission. Former SSDL students involved in SNAPS are excited to see their efforts finally get to orbit!

We wish NovaWurks all the best with their HISat architecture. More information on this deployment is available online. There is also a nice overview of HISat and this mission at NASA.

The U.S. Army SMDC's Kestrel Eye II M imaging microsat has deployed from the ISS, and first contact was made at 08:01 CDT today. Kestrel Eye was built by Adcole Maryland (formerly Maryland Aerospace, Inc (MAI)). Pumpkin was involved in the early development of the first Kestrel Eye (originally called NanoImageSat), supplying the C&DH module and prototype 35mm image capture subsystem. 

Pumpkin has delivered multiple solar panels to another SMDC program with spaceflight heritage -- SMDC One, a 3U CubeSat-based system.

Pumpkin has worked with Adcole Maryland / MAI since 2008 on integrating their MAI-100 and MAI-400 ADACS into a variety of Pumpkin 3U and 6U CubeSats, including the NRO's Colony I program (MAI-100), and various Pumpkin MISC 3 and 6U SUPERNOVA spacecraft (MAI-400 with dual IR Earth Horizon Sensors). We congratulate Adcole Maryland on their most recent success -- they've earned it!

More information on the Kestrel Eye II deployment is available online.

Pumpkin supplies solar panels to a wide range of nanosatellites through our proprietary Pumpkin Modular Deployable Solar Array Systems (PMDSAS) technology, now in its sixth generation.

We just received word that the solar panels on the 3U BGUSat CubeSat continues to work perfectly 7 months into the BGUSat mission. Pumpkin built a series of deployable solar panels in engineering model and flight unit form for BGUSat. BGUSat utilizes a somewhat unusual topology, with a 5S+2S arrangement of seven solar cells per panel. Additionally, BGUSat used Pumpkin's CubeSat Hinges, four of Pumpkin's Panel Release Mechanism (PRM)  to release each of the panels, along with a Pumpkin COTS 3U CubeSat Kit structure.  When deployed, the solar panels are in a single plane, in a "propeller" configuration.

The San Francisco Chronicle ran an article today on space startups in the Bay Area. One company profiles is Vorago, a Pumpkin partner whom Pumpkin has advised on the design of a new, rad-hard C&DH module. A Pumpkin 1U skeletonized chassis features prominently in the article's images ... ​

Pumpkin will be presenting a 1-hour, in-depth look into SUPERNOVA each day at 2:30pm at the SmallSat conference. Come by Booths 5 & 6 for an invitation!

Because a slot for an alternate presentation opened up, Andrew Kalman presented "Development of a Smart High-power Battery for CubeSats" at 16:45 on Sunday during the Workshop Session XI "Education II" on behalf of David Wright, who couldn't attend.

Our presentation outlines the thinking behind the design of Pumpkin's BM 2 battery module, that combines a high-volume battery gas gauge chip with additional intelligence from a Pumpkin SupMCU, to deliver class-leading performance and capabilities in batteries for small spacecraft.

You can now purchase NearSpace Launch's space-proven Globalstar simplex and duplex radios from Pumpkin. These space-proven radios are an inexpensive way to get nearly-worldwide beacon coverage (simplex) and TT&C (duplex) without having to invest in your own ground station architecture.

Pumpkin will be in our usual spot in booths 5 & 6 at the SmallSat Conference in Logan, Utah from August 5-10. Come by and see some of our latest technology, including the BM 2 battery module and DASA, our Deployable Articulated Solar Array system that's going to the Moon! Additionally, we'll be giving hour-long insights into SUPERNOVA™ and its various subsystems, in Room 308 of the Geology Building (about 2 minutes' walk from the main conference hall).