Start with the outcome.
Translate your mission objectives into a payload brief, operating requirements and a realistic programme.
Engineering possibilityA closer orbit.
A closer orbit.
A bigger view.
A modular satellite platform for the people
asking bigger questions of our planet.
Mission concept / O—01From possibility to perspective ↓
From launch to perspectiveScroll to explore / Adjust the layers below
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Built for the journey.
A compact system, carrying a bigger ambition. Every surface has a purpose.
Launch configuration
Try the slider for a closer look.
Your idea belongs
beyond the horizon.
Space missions are complex. Your platform should bring clarity. We connect payload, spacecraft and mission planning in one considered system.
ModularDesigned around your payload
ConnectedFrom ground to orbit
PurposefulBuilt for the question you are asking
Where the spacecraft can look, and how soon
Revisit is a choice, not a specification.
ORBITAL flies a sun-synchronous orbit at 510 km, crossing the equator southbound at 10:30 local time. The telescope can slew off nadir. Every degree it turns buys you a faster return over the same ground and costs you resolution. Choose the trade.
Off-nadir pointing
Ground track, revolutions 4117–4119 · 22 Oct 2026Access corridor shown to scale at ± 30°
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620kmAccess corridor width at the equator
1.8daysMean revisit over a mid-latitude target
1.12mPanchromatic ground sample distance at corridor edge
15.19Revolutions per day · 94.8 min period · fixed by the orbit
One spacecraft, most of peninsular India inside a two-day access window.
| Revolution | Overpass (IST) | Look angle | Sun elevation | Cloud climatology |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4118 | 22 Oct · 10:41 | 12° E | 61° | 38% — north-east monsoon |
| 4164 | 25 Oct · 10:28 | 6° W | 60° | 41% — north-east monsoon |
| 4210 | 28 Oct · 10:34 | 21° E | 58° | 44% — north-east monsoon |
One platform. Your mission.What will you
What will you
make possible?
Chart scrolls sideways →
Band placement on a logarithmic wavelength scale, in nanometres. Bar width is bandwidth.Optical instrumentMultispectral imaging
A 0.85 m panchromatic band and eight multispectral bands on one focal plane. The point is not the picture; it is what the picture lets you count.
| 443 nm | Coastal aerosol · 3.4 m Sediment plumes where the Adyar meets the sea |
|---|---|
| 490 nm | Blue · 3.4 m Haze correction, water clarity |
| 560 nm | Green · 3.4 m Algal bloom in the Chembarambakkam reservoir |
| 665 nm | Red · 3.4 m Bare soil read against standing crop |
| 705 nm | Red edge · 6.8 m Crop stress about a week before the eye sees it |
| 842 nm | Near infrared · 3.4 m Canopy density, flooded paddy under cloud shadow |
| 1610 nm | Shortwave IR 1 · 6.8 m Soil moisture, burn scars after a fire |
| 2190 nm | Shortwave IR 2 · 6.8 m Mineralogy, telling thin cloud from snow |
Everything a spacecraft is, adds up
360 kg, and every gram is spoken for.
The satellite in the hero is a drawing. This is the part that decides whether it flies: a mass statement and a power balance, argued line by line, six months before anyone cuts metal. If a payload grows, something else has to shrink.
ORBITAL PLATFORM · MASS AND POWER STATEMENTREV C · CONCEPT STUDY · NOT FOR FLIGHT
| Subsystem | Mass kg | Share | Power W |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optical payload Telescope assembly, focal plane, calibration unit | 96.0 | 27.0% | 84 |
| Structure Primary structure, separation ring, mechanisms | 78.5 | 22.1% | — |
| Power Deployable arrays, 92 Ah battery, PCDU | 62.0 | 17.4% | 11 |
| Attitude control Four reaction wheels, two star trackers, magnetorquers | 34.8 | 9.8% | 46 |
| Propulsion Xenon tank, single 1.2 mN thruster, 4.2 kg propellant | 29.4 | 8.3% | 38 |
| Avionics Flight computer, mass memory, harness | 22.7 | 6.4% | 29 |
| Communications X-band downlink, S-band TT&C, antennas | 18.6 | 5.2% | 62 |
| Thermal Radiators, heaters, multi-layer insulation | 14.0 | 3.9% | 18 |
| Dry mass · propellant 4.2 kg · launch mass 360.2 kg | 356.0 | 100% | 288 |
Power balance
- Array output, end of life
- 1,180 W peak
- Orbit-average generation
- 412 W
- Orbit-average load
- 288 W
- Eclipse, longest
- 34.6 min
- Battery depth of discharge
- 18%
124 W of margin, 30% of what the arrays make. That is the room your payload grows into.
A clear path to orbitBig ambition.
Big ambition.
Every detail.
One connected process, from the question that starts your mission to the insight that comes back.
Make every system work together.
Bring structure, power, communications and payload into a coherent architecture, verified as a complete system.
Keep the mission in view.
Connect flight operations and ground systems, with a clear plan for observation, communication and end of mission.
A few things
worth knowing.
What is the ORBITAL platform?+
ORBITAL is a fictional space technology brand. The platform illustrates a modular spacecraft proposition and is not an available flight-qualified product.
Are the orbit and budget figures real?+
They are plausible, internally consistent numbers for a 510 km sun-synchronous Earth observation smallsat, worked out for this concept. Treat them as a worked example, not a datasheet.
What should a mission brief include?+
Start with your intended outcome, payload category, the revisit you actually need and your schedule. The tasking selector above is a good way to find out which of those you are willing to trade.
Your next chapter
What comes next starts with a question.
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