OrcaSat program
OS-4 · proposed
OrcaSat-4
Mars solar-sail relay
Speculative
Deliver a 6U CubeSat to low Mars orbit as a piggyback on a commercial Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, demonstrate controlled solar-sail propulsion, and provide tertiary UHF relay services.
- Form
- 6U heritage from OS-3
- Sail
- 35–50 m² CP1 / polyimide
- Platform
- KEEL-4
- Relay
- UHF 401 / 437 MHz
- Earth link
- Heritage X-band
- Path
- MTO piggyback
- Cruise
- ~9 months
- Gate
- AA — two gates out
Validates
- Controlled solar-sail propulsion at Mars — ≥30 km mean-altitude migration over 90 days
- UHF proximity-1 relay to surface assets, Electra-class waveform
- First Horizon Space mission to leave Earth’s gravity well
- Sail-aware ADCS handling three inertia-tensor states
- Form
- 6U CubeSat · Mars orbit
- Mass
- ~12 kg
- Budget
- $200k+
- Timeline
- Year 8+