LINUSS

LINUSS
Name LINUSS
Type CubeSat
Units or mass 12U
Organisation Lockheed Martin
Institution Company
Entity Commercial
Nation US
Manufacturer AIVT by Terran Orbital
Oneliner

Show how small satellites can be used to upgrade constellations or provide life-extension services like refueling.

Description

A pair of 12U cubesats have completed environmental testing and will launch as early as this fall to perform a demonstration in geosynchronous Earth orbit called LINUSS, short for Lockheed Martin In-space Upgrade Satellite System, the company said. The intent is to show how small satellites can be used to upgrade constellations or provide life-extension services like refueling. The mission will seek to “validate essential maneuvering capabilities for Lockheed Martin’s future space upgrade and servicing missions, as well as to showcase miniaturized space domain awareness capabilities."

New generation of space technology launching this year that will allow satellites to change their missions in orbit. Technology demonstration mission, validating SmartSat capabilities and 3D-printed components. SmartSat-enabled satellites can reset themselves faster, diagnose issues with greater precision and back each other up when needed, significantly enhancing resiliency. Satellites can also better detect and defend against cyber threats autonomously, and on-board cyber defenses can be updated regularly to address new threats.

SmartSat uses a hypervisor to securely containerize virtual machines. It's a technology that lets a single computer operate multiple servers virtually to maximize memory, on-board processing and network bandwidth. It takes advantage of multi-core processing, something new to space. That lets satellites process more data in orbit so they can beam down just the most critical and relevant information—saving bandwidth costs and reducing the burden on ground station analysts, and ultimately opening the door for tomorrow's data centers in space.

Results

A pair of Lockheed Martin cubesats that flew to geostationary Earth orbit in November performed maneuvers in close proximity and demonstrated other technologies for in-orbit servicing operations, company officials said April 17.

Sources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Photo sources [1]
COTS subsystems
  • PLATFORM - Tyvak
Keywords Software-defined satellite, Propulsion, GTO or GEO orbit, Beyond LEO orbit

Related Spacecraft

Name Status Launch Orbit
LINUSS 1 (Linus 1, LINUSS-A 1, CHASE, Lockheed Martin In-space Upgrade Satellite System, WL2XOU) Operational (May be retired as of April 2023. Deployed from LDPE-2 in January 2023 according to Jonathan McDowell) 2022-11-01 GEO
LINUSS 2 (Linus 2, LINUSS-A 2, RSO, Lockheed Martin In-space Upgrade Satellite System, WL2XOU) Operational (May be retired as of April 2023. Deployed from LDPE-2 in January 2023 according to Jonathan McDowell) 2022-11-01 GEO

Last modified: 2023-06-09
Detailed LINUSS entry in the Database
Full Nanosats Database (much more data)

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Created by Erik Kulu

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