Bright Ascension Ltd. has developed software to support a radiation hardened computer chip (RH-OBC-1) designed by VORAGO Technologies.

The Onboard Computer (OBC) has been designed as a plug-and-play component for cubesats orbiting in high radiation environments. Radiation hardening of components allows cubesats to orbit further from the Earth than a traditional mission as the product mitigates the disruptive effects of radiation on electrical components.

VORAGO's RH-OBC-1 – Radiation Hardened OBC / C & DH Board and Reference Design Kit.

The RH-OBC-1 is now supported by Bright Ascension’s Flight Software Development Kit (FSDK). The FSDK allows users to build flight software from pre-existing and pre-validated components to create a flight software package that is tailored to the exact requirements of each unique mission.

Integrating radiation-hardened components allows cubesats to operate further from the Earth as the components are designed to mitigate the effects of radiation which can disrupt operation or destroy CMOS semiconductors. The RH-OBC-1 incorporates ICs and circuits that are designed to operate in environments of extreme radiation. The OBC is based upon the VORAGO Technologies VA10820 ARM® Cortex®-M0 microcontroller, a radiation-hardened low-power device that supported with the ARM development ecosystem and is gaining popularity in many smallsat designs.

Executive Comment

Ross Bannatyne from VORAGO Technologies said that the company is looking forward to offering this advanced capability to customers. Having Bright Ascension support for the RH-OBC-1 allows the firmn's customers to focus more energy on the mission at hand, rather than worrying about integration and compatibility issues.