Carnegie Mellon University Joins Alba Orbital’s ‘Cluster 4’ Mission Scheduled for Launch at End of 2021

24th March, 2021

Alba Orbital and Carnegie Mellon University announced a rideshare agreement to launch the world’s first ‘Orbital Edge Computing’ PocketQube aboard Alba Cluster 4. The mission is scheduled to launch in Q4 2021 via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket using Alba Orbital’s flight proven AlbaPod to deploy the satellites in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

The Carnegie Mellon University satellite is a tiny 1P PocketQube measuring at just 5x5x5cm, designed to operate without batteries. The pico-satellite is an example of an intermittent computing platform, which is computing on a device that doesn’t always have a continuous power supply. Instead, the spacecraft’s power system has been designed to use capacitive energy storage and solar panels to run all of its main onboard systems, which include command and control, communications, power management, and software experiments.

Carnegie Mellon University’s 1P PocketQube (5x5x5cm) satellite that is scheduled to launch with Alba Orbital & SpaceX in Q4 2021.

The project is the work of a team of Ph.D. students from Carnegie Mellon University’s department of Electrical & Computer Engineering in the Abstract research lab led by Professor Brandon Lucia. The main objective of this mission is to demonstrate the viability of battery-less pico-satellites for ‘Orbital Edge Computing’.

“We are working on what’s called ‘Orbital Edge Computing’. ‘Edge Computing’ is a way of processing sensor data using computing resources that are physically co-located with sensors that collect that data. We are taking the ideas of edge computing and applying them to pico-satellites that we can easily, cheaply and rapidly deploy to orbit in large numbers," said Professor Brandon Lucia. “One of the main advantages of Orbital Edge Computing is that we can eliminate the delay between when sensor data is collected and when they are processed by computing resources that are co-located with the sensor. This makes applications that process orbital data, such as assisting disaster relief, much more responsive.”

On the subject of collaborating with Alba Orbital on the upcoming launch, Professor Brandon Lucia added: “This mission is an opportunity for our students to design something that will actually go to space, allowing CMU to produce research results in a real orbital deployment environment. We are excited to collaborate with Alba Orbital and are glad to be on board for the Alba Cluster 4 launch this December.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Brandon and his team from Carnegie Mellon University again on this upcoming launch. PocketQubes are an excellent platform for education & research, as they allow more affordable access to space compared to the cost involved with cubesat missions’’ adds Tom Walkinshaw, Founder & CEO of Alba Orbital. “It’s great to see Carnegie Mellon University adopt PocketQubes into their research programs alongside Stanford University, TU Delft and other universities who we have had the privilege of working with on Alba launch campaigns’’.

In addition to their PocketQube launch brokering service, Alba Orbital will be providing ground station support during Carnegie Mellon University’s mission via the AlbaConnect network. The Scottish satellite pioneers will also be handling licensing duties on behalf of CMU as part of Alba’s recently announced satellite licensing service.