RUAG Space and Kubos Partner to Build The Next Generation of Megaconstellations
06.08.2019
LOGAN, Utah, July 31, 2019 -- RUAG Space and Kubos Corporation will officially sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at this year’s Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah August 5. The agreement outlines how the companies will work together on multiple new lines of ready-to-fly satellite computers.
These new integrated products, geared towards the U.S. commercial and government satellite constellation market, take the KubOS software and RUAG Space satellite computing hardware into the quickly growing megaconstellation and >150kg markets.
“The collaboration of large successful aerospace firms with innovative software companies is going to be an unstoppable trend as more large constellations are planned and launched into orbit. The underlying truth for those applications is that they need both flexible software and reliable hardware - just the same as our day to day computing needs down on Earth.” said Kubos CEO Marshall Culpepper.
Kubos has developed an open-source, integrated flight software framework that can easily run on an array of different hardware combinations. “KubOS is the Android of space systems. By combining it with a wide range of powerful hardware platforms, it can bring incredible value to its end-users.”
This agreement is an important first step for KubOS and secure open source, which has been a mainstay of the nanosatellite market, to the larger mini/medium size satellite enterprise. Several industries, from smartphones to enterprise IT, have made the turn towards open source software.
The KubOS community has swelled in 2019 to more than 500 aerospace developers, making it the largest open source movement in the space community - many of which will be present at the Small Satellite Conference. The official signing of the MOU will take place at the conference on August 5 and will be attended by leadership from both RUAG Space and Kubos.
”Customers have come to know and expect reliable systems from RUAG Space, but the challenge we face as an industry is producing the same reliable systems at scale and at a level that makes them affordable for a mega constellation,” said Dr. Peter Guggenbach, CEO of RUAG Space. “To accomplish this requires strategic partners, particularly in software—and visionary thinking and innovative collaborative approach—which brings us to this partnership with Kubos.”
About Kubos Corporation
Kubos is bringing the software revolution to space, one small satellite at a time. Kubos has two core products on the market: KubOS, an open-source, integrated flight software framework and Major Tom, a mission control tool suite. Both of these products are swiftly gaining acceptance in the commercial space sector and have proven to reduce spacecraft development schedules and simplify operations. More information
About RUAG Space
RUAG Space is the leading supplier to the space industry in Europe, with a growing presence in the United States. With more than 1,300 staff across six countries, it develops and manufactures products for satellites and launch vehicles – playing a key role both in the institutional and commercial space market. RUAG Space is a division of the international technology Group RUAG.
RUAG develops and markets internationally sought-after technology applications in the fields of aerospace and defense for use on land, in the air and in space. RUAG generates sales of approximately CHF 2 billion and has over 9,100 employees – 400 of whom are trainees. More information
