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Pleiades-Yearling / Pleiades-Squared

Pleiades-Yearling [Cal Poly]

Pleiades-Yearling (Pleiades Rapid Orbital Verification Experimental System) is a 1U CubeSat technology demonstration mission by Cal Poly Pomona’s Bronco Space based on the PyCubed architecture and is designed to function as a space lab bench.

Modularity and low-cost hardware is priorized in order to create a CubeSat kit that can be made available to other university CubeSat programs to help them get a head start on development. The PROVES kit will include an unassembled structure, the novel Lovelace flight computer architecture, and a software instruction manual. Universities will also have access to the open source files for the entire kit. The kit's goal is to bridge the knowledge gap between what undergraduates are taught and what it takes to engineer a spacecraft.

The satellite carries along with it a Sony Spresense camera as well as 3 IMU's.

It was launched in January 2023 on Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) on the Orbiter SN1 space tug. Orbiter SN1 suffered a power failure in orbit, which prevented the satellite from being deployed.

A reflight was launched in April 2023 under the designation Pleiades-Yearling 2.

An improved version called Pleiades-Squared was launched in June 2023.

Nation: USA
Type / Application: Technology
Operator: Cal Poly Pomona’s Bronco Space
Contractors: Cal Poly Pomona’s Bronco Space
Equipment:
Configuration: CubeSat (1U)
Propulsion: None
Power: Solar cells, batteries
Lifetime:
Mass: 1 kg
Orbit:
Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
Pleiades-Yearling 2023-001# 03.01.2023 CC SLC-40 p Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) with YAM 5, Lynk Tower 03, 04, Umbra-SAR 04, 05, EOS-SAT 1, ICEYE X21, X22, X27, ŅuSat 32, ..., 35, Skykraft 1 Carrier, Skykraft 1A, ..., 1D, Chimera LEO-1, ION-SCV 007, 008, Astrocast 0401, ..., 0404, Futura SM1, Futura SM3, Kelpie 1, Sharjah-Sat 1, TAU-SAT 2, Orbiter SN1, MDQSAT 1A, 1B, Pleiades-Yearling, Sapling 1, Unicorn 2G, 2H, Vigoride 5, ZEUS 1, KSF 3A, ..., 3D, Flock-4y 1, ..., 36, Lemur-2 157, ..., 162, SpaceBEE 156, ..., 167, EWS-RROCI, BRO 8, Gama Alpha, Menut, MilSpace2 1, 2, NSLSat 2, Platform 2, EYE 1, STAR-VIBE, Sternula 1, Connecta T1.2, Guardian alpha, KuwaitSat 1, PolyITAN-HP-30, BDSAT 2, Pushan alpha / failed to deploy
Pleiades-Yearling 2 2023-054AF 15.04.2023 Va SLC-4E Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) with İmece, Umbra-SAR 06, ŅuSat 36, ..., 39, GHOSt 1, 2, Tomorrow R1, GHGSat C6, C7, C8, Hawk 7A, 7B, 7C, NORSAT TD, ION-SCV 010, Kepler 20, 21, ELO 3, EPICHyper 1, VCUB1, Vigoride 6, LLITED 1, 2, REVELA, DISCO 1, VIREO, IRIS C, BRO 9, Brokkr 1, CIRBE, DEWA-Sat 2, It's About Time, KILIÇSAT, SSS 2B, Sapling 2, Pleiades-Yearling 2, Platform 3 (Sateliot 0), FACSAT 2, Connecta T2.1, LacunaSat 2f, ADLER 2, Lemur-2 164, Lemur-2 165, INSPIREsat 7, Taifa 1, RoseyCubesat 1, Celestis 23
Pleiades-Squared 2023-084 12.06.2023 Va SLC-4E Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) with W-Series 1, Skykraft 3 Carrier, Skykraft 3A, ..., 3D, ICEYE X23, X25, X26, X30, GHOSt 3, Grégoire, Runner 1, Tomorrow R2, QPS-SAR 6, ŅuSat 40, ..., 43, Aces 1, ..., 4, HotSat 1, AFR, DROID.001, MuSat 1, ION-SCV 011, Outpost Mission 1, EPICHyper 2, Kelpie 2, Spei Satelles, ELO 4, MRC-100, Unicorn 2I, SATLLA 2I, URESAT 1, Istanbul, ROM 2, Orbiter SN3, Otter Pup, MDQSAT 1C, 1D, Pleiades-Squared, GEI-SAT Precursor, XVI, AII-Delta, Ayris 1, 2, EIVE, FOREST 2, Lemur-2 167, 168, MISR-A 1, MISR-B 2, Tiger 4, FOSSASat FEROX 1, ..., 4, SpaceBEE 168, ..., 179

Launch Sites:

  • CC =   Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Eastern Test Range, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA   USA
  • Va =   Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA   USA

References:

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Last update: 06.09.2026
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