Satellite on-board computers (OBCs) are the central processing units within a satellite that manage and control its operations. They execute software to handle tasks such as communication with ground stations, data processing, system monitoring, and coordination of subsystems like propulsion, power, and attitude control. Designed for reliability in harsh space environments, OBCs ensure the satellite functions correctly throughout its mission. In this article, SATNow has listed some interesting Satellite On-Board Computers that were trending on the website.

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Satellite On-Board Command & Data Handling Subsystem with Redundancy

The CDH1 from CAVU Aerospace UK is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) that uses an ARM Cortex-M3 processor on FPGA and an advanced Microchip/Microsemi SmartFusion2 & ProASIC3 Flash-based FPGA design. It supports CAN2.0 (Up to 1Mbps), full-duplex RS-422, half-duplex RS-485, RS-232, I2C, and SPI serial interfaces. The OBC requires a supply voltage of 5 V and has a power consumption of 3-5 W. It has a mass of 1.55 Kg and measures 205 x 180 x 38mm. It is designed to withstand a variety of space environments and is suitable for deep space missions. Read more.

SmallSat Mass Memory and Communications Protocol Unit

The SIRIUS TCM LEON3FT from AAC Clyde Space is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) with a real-time operating system that runs on a 32-bit LEON3FT fault-tolerant processor. The OBC has an SDRAM of 64 MB (post-EDAC) and a nonvolatile system memory NAND flash of 2 GB (post-EDAC). This OBC requires a power supply of 4.5-16 V and has a power consumption of 1.3 W. It has a mass of 130 g and measures 95.89 x 90.17 x 17.20 mm (L x W x H). The OBC is designed and qualified for five years of operation in low-earth orbit and is ideal for advanced satellite missions. Read more.

Onboard Computer for Global Satellite Applications

The Amethyst from Airbus is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) based on a high-performance ARM processor designed for safety-critical applications. The OBC supports ethernet, SpaceWire, RS-422, and CAN bus interfaces. It requires an input power bus voltage of 22-38 V and has a power consumption of 20-50 W. The Amethyst is Total Dose TID compatible with a typical lifetime of 10 years in low-earth orbit. It has a mass of 3.5 Kg and measures 110 x 240 x 170 mm. The OBC is ideal for constellation applications and global satellite applications. Read more.

Single Board Computer for Image Processing Applications

The PROTON400K from Space Micro is a Single Board Computer (SBC) that is designed on a patented Hardened-Core watchdog mitigation technology.  It has 1-4 GB Rad Hard NAND Flash and 256 GB storage capacity. It requires a DC supply of 28 V and has a power consumption of 8-12 W. The SBC has a mass of 475 g and measures 7.6 x 5.5 mm. It is ideal for high-performance computing, payload electronics, image processing, signal processing, and command and data handling applications. Read more.

On-Board Computer for Microsatellites & LEO Spacecraft

The OBC-GR712 from Spaceteq is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) that is designed for microsatellite operations and low-earth orbit spacecraft. It has a mass of 0.350 kg and supports the UART interface. This OBC requires a DC supply of 22-34 V and has a power consumption of less than 5 W. It is based on Cobham Gaisler GR712RC and a dual-core LEON 3FT 32-bit SPARC processor that has 256 Mbyte EDAC-protected SDRAM. This OBC measures 233 x 160 x 15.1 mm (6U 160 mm form factor). Read more.

Onboard Computer for Microsat Missions

The NanoMind A3200 from GomSpace is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) that is based on a high-performance AVR32 MCU with a clock frequency of 8-64 MHz. It features an attitude stabilization system with a 3-axis magneto-resistive sensor, a 3-axis gyroscope, and 3 bidirectional PWM outputs with current measurement. It comes with on-board temperature sensors and up to 8 external ADC channels that also can be used as GPIO. The OBC supports the CAN and I2C interface. It has a mass of 24 g and measures 65 x 40 x 7.1 mm. This OBC is ideal for mission-critical space applications and CubeSat or nano-satellite missions. Read more.

Cubesat Onboard Computer Module

The OBC-SM-DT-SAMV71 from SPACEMANIC is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) that uses a 32-bit Cortex-M7 microcontroller and Spacemanic motherboard. This OBC has a flash storage capacity of 128 MB and a 384Kbytes multi-port SRAM. The OBC requires a power supply of 3.3-5 V and has an average power consumption of 100 mW.  It has a mass of 0.25 Kg and measures 65 x 40 mm. The OBC is suitable for nanosatellite C&DH, TT&C, mass storage, and ADCS. Read more.

Satellite On-board Computer For CubeSats and Nano-satellites

The SatBus 3C2 from Kongsberg NanoAvionics is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) which is a highly integrated nano-satellite main bus unit containing advanced functionality such as OBC, ADCS, and redundant UHF communication system (COMM). The Main Bus Unit consists of ADCS, including necessary sensors and actuators such as Sunsensors, reaction wheel, GPS receivers, and SatCOM UHF. It has multiple CAN, SPI, I2C, and UART/USART interfaces. It has a space heritage of low-earth orbit missions. Read more.

Single Board Computer Low Earth Orbit Satellites

The SBC-1461 from CesiumAstro is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) that features a 1.4 GHz ARM 64-bit quad-core Cortex processor with an integrated security engine and a 2GB SDRAM with ECC.  The OBC supports Ethernet 1000BASE-T, 10GBASE-KR, SGMII, RS-485, RS-422, and JTAG data interfaces. It comes in a compact packaged form factor of 50 x 84 x 13 mm and uses rugged MIL-spec Nano-D connectors. The SBC-1461 is ideally suited for military and commercial use on LEO satellites and airborne platforms. Read more.

On-Board Computer for Deep Space Missions

The FERMI from Argotec is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) that features a dual-core LEON3FT SPARC V8 processor with a fault-tolerant memory controller. It has a 20 Mbit EEPROM + 5 Mbit EEPROM and a 256 Mbyte SDRAM. The OBC software is based on the RTEMS operating system and has built-in task manager, command, and telemetry management as per ECSS-E-ST-70-41C. It has a low power consumption of 5W and is suitable for small satellite platforms. The OBC is ideal for deep space and mission-critical applications. Read more.

Onboard Computer for Mini and Micro Satellites

The OBC CORE from D-Orbit is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) that features a high-performance AVR32 microcontroller and 1Gbit SPI flash memory. It has up to 4 cores that can be configured to work as independent onboard computers for load balancing and has 4 x 4 GB configurable eMMC non-volatile memory. It supports CAN Bus and RS-422 data interface and requires an input supply voltage of 8-12 V. It has a mass of 0.15 Kg and measures 150 x 110 x 25 mm. This OBC is ideal for general application on mini and microsatellites. Read more.

Satellite On-board Computer with ADCS Controller

The SXC-MB-04-RPI from SPUTNIX is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) that has a Raspberry CM3/CM3+ compute module with 4 GB Flash memory.  The onboard computer requires a supply voltage of 5-14 V and has a power consumption of up to 0.1-1.4 W. It has a low-power board managing the MCU with B-DOT and flight plans. This OBC has a mass of 55 g and measures 86.2 x 93.6 x 14 mm (without a PC104 connector). It has bootloaders with in-flight flash ability and a centralized satellite debug system. Read more.

Onboard Computer Hardware Platform for Satellite Missions

The ABACUS from GAUSS Srl is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) unit with a general-purpose hardware platform suited for a wide range of satellite missions. This OBC has a clock frequency of up to 100MHz and has 10 analog inputs and more than 45 possible digital GPIO channels. It supports I2C, SPI bus, RS-422, and RS-485 interfaces. It is powered by the 5V satellite bus and incorporates 9DoF IMU with a 3-axis magnetometer, accelerometer, and gyroscope. The OBC weighs 62 grams and measures 90.14 x 95.86 x 23.24 mm externally including all the connectors. Read more.

Flight Proven Onboard Computers For CubeSats

The IOBC from ISISPACE is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) a high-performance flight-proven unit based around a 32-bit ARM9 processor with a speed of 400 MHz. It has a volatile memory of 64MB SDRAM and a critical data storage of 512kb FRAM. This IOBC requires an input supply of 3.3 V and has a power consumption of 400 mW. It has a mass of 94g (mainboard) with 100 g (EM daughter board) and measures 96 x 90 x 12.4 [mm] (including FM daughter board). The OBC is ideal for CubeSat applications. Read more.

On-Board Computer for Nano Satellite Platforms

The NANOSATPRO from STM Defense International is a Satellite On-Board Computer (OBC) that is designed for low-earth orbit operations and has a lifetime of up to 2 years in orbit. This OBC has an 8051 Softcore or Leon 3 FT Softcore processor with a clock frequency of 48 MHz.  It comes with SEE protection provided through Triple Modular Redundancy (TMR) in FPGA, EDAC in memory units,  Watchdog on software, and Latch-up Current Limiter (LCL) in power units. The OBC has a mass of 100 grams and measures 95.90 x 90.18 x 18.21 mm. Read more.

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Note: This list has been compiled based on user activity on SATNow. To ensure that we cover the whole range of Satellite On-Board Computers we limited the number of products from each category and company. The listed products are shown in random order and are grouped by category.