Quub, a US-based 3D printing microsatellite company, is launching an office in the UK for its Earth Observation business.

Quub microsatellite company launches British subsidiary

Quub UK will be based in London, and its Executive Director will be Dan Lewis.

The aim is for Quub UK to serve as a bridge into the European market, as part of an eventual global network. Functioning, in the words of the company, “as a central hub for promoting innovation, fostering collaborations, and establishing partnerships with local businesses and tech communities across Europe”.

Among the features of Quub, aside from 3D printing components, is its use of the Raspberry Pi aboard its picosatelites.

“There are 3 reasons why Quub is so special and unique; 3D Printing of tiny satellites with plug and play architecture reducing time to orbit from years to weeks,” said Lewis. “Data Processing in Space using British-made Raspberry Pi computers overcoming space to earth bandwidth limitations. Built entirely from environmentally friendly materials, Quub’s satellites burn up cleanly – space debris free – in the atmosphere at the end of their working lives.”

Water
Among its priorities, says the company, will be monitoring the UK’s water industries.

“From space, our satellites can spot water leaks and temperature changes and dramatically reduce the time needed to locate problems from days and hours to minutes” said Lewis.

“With our AI systems and rapid data processing in space, Water Companies can save a lot of money and time in locating problems when we automatically send them the coordinates.”

The timing is perfect, with the UK water companies – already in the eye of a political storm – currently making their final submission to OFWAT for their 5 year (2025 – 2030), £96 billion, spending plans.

Quub
“We’re delighted to launch Quub UK, an exciting milestone towards our global network,” added the company’s CEO and Founder, Joe Latrell. “With several years experience in the water industry, I understand better than most the challenges for the water industry – that’s why I launched Quub – and we can go a long way to help meet them with our satellites.”

From Lancaster, in Pennsylvania (not Lancashire), to London…

Functionality
Its satellites comprise 8 ‘pods’ of functionality. It outlines them as follows:

Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU): This tells the satellite where it is and how it’s oriented in orbit, somewhat akin to GPS on the ground.
GPS: This lets the satellite know where it is in relation to the ground below.
Vacuum Arc Thruster (VAT) engine: This is the satellite’s propulsion system.
Radio: This transmits data, once gathered, back to Earth.
Spectroscopy: This instrument measures gas composition of an atmosphere.
Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR): This measures altitude and distance using laser pulses.
Ultrasonics: This is a data communications system used in ground testing. (Note: This system does not have orbital uses.)
Infrared (IR) camera: This camera collects images of heat levels, rather than visible light.
Pictured above is the company’s 3P Challenger Bus, described as “a lightweight platform that can carry a small array of sensors suited for a single experiment, which makes it a great option for colleges or universities looking to build their first low-cost satellite. Challenger is capable of Earth observation, remote sensing, and multi-spectral data collection from LEO”.