SPARC – 1: A New, Improved Modular 6U Spacecraft

SPARC-1 (Space Plug-and-play Architecture Research Cubesat-1) is the first joint US/Sweden military research nanosatellite (6U cubesat), representing culmination of a research activity spanning more than a decade. The spacecraft design encompasses a blending of technologies and components developed by both countries, with primary payloads of direct interest to each nation. The US payload, referred to as an Agile Space Radio (ASR) is an on-orbit reconfigurable transceiver, intended to support live experimentation with different waveforms and protocols useful to communications missions. The Swedish payload is a visible camera optimized for the study of space situational awareness (SSA) concepts. At the time of this writing, the spacecraft development, assembly, integration, and testing has been successfully completed, and SPARC-1 is expected to launch in 2019.