What’s changing in the new cDS revision?

We at the Cal Poly CubeSat Lab are pleased to announce that a draft version of the newest CubeSat Design Specification (CDS) is available to view HERE. We welcome feedback from everyone before the official 14th revision is released.

There are a number of changes, which are detailed in the Appendix of the document. But overall, the document has been updated to act as more of a guide for CubeSat designers, rather than a “how-to” manual.

The original CDS introduced the CubeSat Standard to the world almost two decades ago. It defined the physical and electrical characteristics for a 1U and 3U size CubeSat and included requirements for interfacing with the only CubeSat dispenser available at the time, the Poly-Pico Orbital Deployer (P-POD). Since then the industry has expanded to include more standard sizes and additional dispensers with more available options.

To accommodate these new advancements, the CDS has been retooled to be more flexible and inclusive of developments within the industry. Requirements that were originally written specifically for the P-POD will encompass requirements for all dispensers currently available. It is also the intention for the new revision of the CDS to identify the available options on dispensers that are widely available for use. Currently that list is limited to dispensers that publish their specifications online, but can be updated as dispenser companies make that information available to us. The CDS will also define all U configurations in one document with one set of requirements for ease of reference.

The new CDS should be the first stop for any developer beginning their CubeSat design.

Questions and comments may also be directed to cubesat@calpoly.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!

Kind regards,

 Cal Poly CubeSat Laboratory