NOOR-1A / NOOR-1B (Unicorn-2 PocketQube)
Stara Space
Stara's pathfinder picosatellite mission built on Alba Orbital's Unicorn-2 3P PocketQube bus.
Technical specifications
- Form factor
- 3P PocketQube (Unicorn-2 bus, built by Alba Orbital)
- Launch date
- 2019-12-06
- Launch vehicle
- Rocket Lab Electron
- Mission type
- Technology demonstration / path-finder
- Capabilities
- LEO intersatellite links, encrypted communications, attitude control
About
NOOR-1A and NOOR-1B are Stara Space’s first flight hardware, built on Alba Orbital’s Unicorn-2 3P PocketQube platform in a deal announced in January 2019 — the first commercial sale of the Unicorn-2 bus. The two picosatellites served as a path-finder mission to demonstrate the core technical building blocks of Stara’s planned relay constellation, including low-Earth-orbit intersatellite links, encrypted communications, attitude control, and integration with ground software that lets third-party satellites request data transfer. NOOR-1A and NOOR-1B launched together on December 6, 2019 aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rideshare mission from New Zealand, alongside other PocketQube and small satellites. The mission’s success in validating intersatellite relay and encrypted communications directly informed the design of Stara’s commercial relay, compute, and storage products.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.
