Black Kite-1 8U CubeSat
Rapidtek Technologies
8U CubeSat launched November 2025 into SSO with Ku-band + Ka-band inter-satellite link and LoRa IoT, using in-house active phased-array antennas and regenerative communications.
Technical specifications
- Form Factor
- 8U CubeSat
- Orbit
- Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO)
- Launch Date
- November 2025
- Communication Band (Primary)
- Ku-band (bidirectional)
- Inter-Satellite Link Band
- Ka-band
- IoT Payload
- LoRa IoT validation
- Antenna Type
- In-house active phased-array
- Processing
- Regenerative communications
- Data Rate per User
- >1 Mbps
- Simultaneous Users
- >100
About
Black Kite-1 is Rapidtek Technologies’ 8U CubeSat launched into Sun-Synchronous Orbit in November 2025. It represents a significant leap from the 3U Nightjar, incorporating bidirectional Ku-band communication alongside a Ka-band inter-satellite link and LoRa IoT validation payload. The satellite uses Rapidtek’s in-house active phased-array antenna technology and implements regenerative communications processing, enabling high-speed links of >1 Mbps per user with support for more than 100 simultaneous users — validating the satellite’s capability for commercial multi-user service in a LEO constellation.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.
