Kubos has released KubOS 1.0, which is, according to the company, the first complete, end-to-end software solution for smallsats — the operating software can be downloaded from the Kubos website and users and developers are encouraged to join the community to improve this open-source product.
Kubos is the first open source platform for space, with more than 200 active engineers in the Kubos open source community. This release is also the first major release of Kubos that has been tested by and supports the On Board Computer (iOBC) from Innovative Solutions in Space. Even if the software isn't downloaded directly, the likelihood is that Kubos will be coming to a satellite near you soon, as the software is poised to become the default industry operating system. In the past year, Kubos has signed distribution deals with three industry-leading smallsat manufacturers; Innovative Solutions in Space (ISIS), NanoAvionics, and Pumpkin, Inc.
Packaged into an integrated distribution, Kubos is comprised of three parts: a customized operating system (RTOS or Linux), Kubos’ hardware abstraction layer (HAL), and Kubos Core flight middleware. KubOS RT and KubOS Linux provide the satellite runtime and APIs that unlock common satellite functionality like Telemetry, Command and Control, Subsystem and ground station communications, and remote software updates. The company also offers the Hopper Test Bed, the first of its kind development and testing environment available remotely to the satellite industry.
According to Marshall Culpepper, CEO and co-founder of Kubos, Kubos was built from the ground up for satellite developers. Using the company's SDK, tools, and community, developers can stop worrying about writing basic mission operations software and focus, instead, on the most business-critical part of the mission, the payload.
Jeroen Rotteveel, the Owner and Director of Innovative Solutions in Space, revealed that his company's experience acknowledges that software development is one of the most complex and often overlooked aspect of spacecraft design. His firm will offer KubOS Linux to their iOBC customers, and they expect this product to play a huge role in continuing to revolutionize the speed and accuracy of small spacecraft development.
Tim Draper, the founder and managing partner of Draper Associates as well as the lead investor in Kubos' recent seed round, stated that companies such as Microsoft and Google have shaped industries with their software platforms. Kubos has the reliability and scalability of a solid software company, with all the excitement and opportunity of the rapidly growing space industry.
“The writing's on the wall. Space is rapidly becoming commoditized and is ready for a software platform that will accelerate and touch every corner of the industry,” concluded Kubos CEO Marshall Culpepper.