These are the flying discs the government wants you to know about

CubeSats have been a ubiquitous part of the satellite industry for nearly a quarter century. They are based on a cube-shaped design, measuring about 10 centimeters per side, but can be expanded from one cubic “unit” to three, six, 12 or more depending on mission requirements. The CubeSat standard has become a popular choice for commercial companies, the military, NASA, and universities that want to build small satellites on a low budget.

By one measure, about 3,000 CubeSats have been launched since the first one flew into orbit in 2003. Originally limited to low-Earth orbit, they have now flown to high-altitude orbits, the Moon and Mars.

While CubeSats are now abundant, engineers at the Aerospace Corporation saw an opportunity to improve on the concept. Aerospace Chief Technology Officer Debra Emmons said the idea came from Rich Vale, a recently retired scientist from the center’s Experiment Lab, or ExLab, division.

“They were asking questions,” Emmons explained in an interview with Ars. “They were looking at CubeSat studies and considering some options. The typical CubeSat is, in fact, a cube. So, the idea was, can you look at some different types of form factors that might be able to generate more power … and provide benefits for some mission applications?”

Aerospace’s research team arrived at the DiskSat design. The stackable flat-panel format is easier to pack for launch than CubeSats, Emmons said. The concept is similar to SpaceX’s pioneering approach to launching stackable Starlink internet satellites, but DiskSats are significantly smaller, lighter and suited to a variety of missions.

According to the Aerospace Corporation, DiskSats have several advantages over CubeSats. Each of the four DiskSats launched Thursday has a mass of about 35 pounds (16 kilograms), less than a typical 12U CubeSat. But DiskSat has more than 13 times the surface area on one side, providing developers with valuable real estate to load the satellite with power-generating solar arrays, sensors, antennas, or other payloads that won’t fit on a CubeSat.