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Space & Bean's 3U CubeSat 'SD-1Sat' is scheduled for launch aboard South Korea's fifth Nuri rocket flight on October 7, 2026. - The mission will validate an integrated protective enclosure designed to shield low-cost commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronics against radiation, thermal stress, and vibration in LEO. - Building on prior MISSE exposure tests and upcoming annual validation flights starting in 2027, Space & Bean aims to provide cost-effective hardware protection for global satellite constellations.
Space & Bean, a Korean deep-tech company that develops integrated protective enclosures for electronics in extreme environments, will launch its SD-1Sat CubeSat aboard the fifth flight of South Korea's Nuri rocket, scheduled for Oct. 7, 2026. The mission will test whether low-cost commercial electronics, housed in the company's integrated protective enclosure, can operate reliably in low Earth orbit (LEO). The launch window opens at 12:23 p.m. and closes at 1:23 p.m. Korea Standard Time on Oct. 7 (11:23 p.m. Oct. 6 to 12:23 a.m. Oct. 7 EDT). Depending on weather and space conditions, the launch may be moved to any day from Oct. 8 through Oct. 14.
Why Protected COTS Matters
The space industry is shifting from a small number of expensive satellites toward LEO constellations of hundreds to thousands of spacecraft. At that scale, flying radiation-hardened, space-grade components on every satellite is often too costly, and those parts typically trail commercial electronics in performance. Satellite developers are increasingly looking for ways to fly COTS parts instead. Space & Bean's approach is to protect the hardware rather than replace it. Its integrated protective enclosure combines radiation shielding, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, thermal management, and structural protection against vibration in a single unit, so that operators can use COTS components where they would otherwise need space-grade parts.
Mission Profile
SD-1Sat is a 3U CubeSat measuring 100 × 100 × 340.5 mm and weighing 4.1 kg. It will operate in a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) for six months to one year. The satellite carries a commercial edge AI device, Internet of Things (IoT) communications hardware, and an optical camera, all housed inside the enclosure. Low-power radiation sensors, placed behind two different shielding materials, will measure and compare radiation dose, with a focus on the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), the region where Earth's inner radiation belt comes closest to the surface. Throughout the mission, the satellite will record accumulated dose alongside the operating status of each device. The enclosure was tested on the ground with proton beams at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) in March 2025. After SD-1Sat stabilizes in orbit, the team will establish initial communications, check out each payload step by step, and then begin mapping radiation levels over the SAA. SD-1Sat was developed by Space & Bean with Yonsei University, DRB, and ArbaLabs.
From Materials to a Full Enclosure
In May 2026, Space & Bean's radiation-shielding material arrived at the International Space Station aboard SpaceX CRS-34 for exposure testing on the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) platform, in partnership with Amplified Space. SD-1Sat takes the next step: flying the complete enclosure, not just the material, with working electronics inside. The flight data will support Space & Bean's work designing protection solutions tailored to each customer's mission and orbit. "Satellite developers want flight data, not just lab data," said Kyung-ryung Min, CEO of Space & Bean. "SD-1Sat lets us show in orbit that commercial components can be used in space when they are properly protected. Our goal is to offer this approach to constellation developers around the world." Min said the company plans to launch its own validation satellite every year starting in 2027 to keep building flight data and refining the enclosure.
About Nuri's Fifth Flight
The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) set the launch date at its first Launch Management Committee meeting on Aug. 27. The flight will carry 15 satellites with a total payload mass of 1,071 kg and will attempt South Korea's first sequential deployment of a satellite constellation. The primary payloads are five NEONSAT Earth-observation microsatellites developed by KAIST's Satellite Technology Research Center, each under 100 kg with a three-year design life. Five more will fly on the sixth Nuri launch to complete a 10-satellite constellation that will image the Korean Peninsula more than three times a day. The secondary payloads are 10 CubeSats from Korean companies, universities, research institutes, and a local government, including SD-1Sat. Primary satellite separation will begin about 810 seconds after liftoff, at intervals of 35 to 40 seconds, followed by the CubeSats in pairs every 10 seconds. This flight also introduces a new low-shock separation system for the primary payloads.
Source
- 동아일보 (2026-10-07) - Original article: Space & Bean's SD-1Sat to Test Low-Cost Radiation Protection for Global LEO Constellations on Nuri's Fifth Flight - https://www.donga.com/en/article/all/20261006/6408952/1