Why PyCubed Is Powering the Next Generation of University CubeSats

The Academic Shift Toward Accessible Space Avionics

The first decade of university CubeSat missions was defined by complexity. Student teams were expected to design custom avionics, create new power regulation boards, and integrate flight software that often lacked documentation. Many missions failed before reaching orbit because teams spent years debugging the basics instead of advancing science or technology research.

PyCubed was created to solve this problem. Developed at the University of Washington, it introduced a modular, open, and flight-proven avionics platform built specifically for educational missions. Teams could stop rebuilding the same boards and instead focus on learning systems engineering and delivering meaningful payloads.

What Makes PyCubed Different

PyCubed combines multiple critical functions into a single integrated board, including:

• Onboard computer with Python based flight software
• EPS (power regulation and battery management)
• Radio interface and antenna support
• Sensor and payload expansion ports
• Built-in watchdog and fault handling systems

This reduces wiring complexity, early risk, and the large number of unknowns that typically overwhelm first time student missions.

Python in Space: A Major Educational Advantage

PyCubed flight software uses MicroPython, allowing students to quickly:

• Prototype command and control behavior
• Run critical logic in readable and maintainable code
• Train new members without steep learning ramps

Because Python is widely taught across engineering and science programs, more students can contribute earlier in a mission lifecycle.

Proven Mission Heritage

PyCubed hardware has already supported a growing portfolio of successful on orbit demonstrations, including scientific payloads, technology tests, radio communications, and material exposure experiments. Each mission strengthens confidence in the avionics design and provides practical documentation for future teams.

This is a critical distinction. Hardware that remains purely theoretical rarely survives the demands of launch and deployment. PyCubed is not a classroom-only architecture. It is a real spaceflight system for real orbital missions.

Open Hardware and Shared Learning

PyCubed is licensed to encourage community growth. Teams benefit from:

• Full access to electrical schematics and layout files
• Transparent power and thermal performance data
• Shared troubleshooting and success knowledge
• Reusable module libraries and code examples

Instead of each university learning the same lessons the hard way, PyCubed enables cumulative progress.

How Blackwing Space Extends PyCubed

Blackwing Space strongly supports the open avionics mission. To advance capability while preserving familiarity, we are developing the Rook Board, a next generation onboard computer derived from the PyCubed ecosystem.

Key development objectives include:

• Software compatibility with existing PyCubed libraries
• Improved power distribution and protective circuitry
• Modular expansion for advanced payloads and radios
• Integration with Blackwing Space nanosatellite buses
• US based manufacturing for academic compliance

Students can begin coding missions using standard PyCubed development and fly the same software stack on a professionally supported platform.

Designed for Academic Affordability and Scalability

Universities must balance ambition with budget. The Rook Board is being designed as a COTS product that dramatically lowers entry barriers for American academic teams. Target pricing will be set to support broad educational adoption, with no proprietary lock in.

The result is a clean pathway:

1. Prototype on PyCubed in the lab
2. Scale up to the Rook Board for flight readiness
3. Fly on an American nanosatellite bus from Blackwing Space

This continuity preserves student knowledge year to year.

Beta Collaboration with Universities and Research Institutions

Blackwing Space is currently opening invitations for:

• Early hardware evaluation partners
• University mission planning pilots
• Payload developers needing modular expansion

Beta program participants will influence the final Rook Board feature set and documentation structure used by future CubeSat teams nationwide.

A Platform with Room to Grow

CubeSat education is entering a new era. Students are no longer spectators in space. They are building and operating real satellites that contribute new knowledge and national capability. PyCubed helped unlock that transformation by making flight avionics accessible.

Blackwing Space is committed to pushing the ecosystem further by combining open hardware principles with manufacturing quality, domestic supply chains, and expert mission support. Together, we can enable educational missions that advance science while training the next generation of US space leaders.