Satellite platforms
CubeSats and microsatellites, from bus design through flight.
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Hawaiʻi Space Flight Laboratory
We design, build, launch and operate small satellites for science, technology demonstration and education — and we publish the flight software and ground systems that fly them.
About HSFL
The Hawaiʻi Space Flight Laboratory was established in 2007 within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and the College of Engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
HSFL develops 1–100 kg small satellites for science and education, supports technology validation missions for government agencies such as NASA and the DoD, and partners with university and industry missions. Students work side by side with engineers and scientists on every phase, from concept to on-orbit operations.
- 2007Founded at UH Mānoa
- 1–100 kgSmall satellite class
- 2015ORS-4: first launch from Hawaiʻi (PMRF Kauaʻi)
- Open sourceCOSMOS mission operations framework
What we do
Integration & testing
Cleanroom, thermal-vacuum and environmental test capability.
Instrumentation
Science payloads such as hyperspectral thermal imagers and neutron detectors.
Mission operations
Ground stations across Hawaiʻi and the COSMOS operations software.
Missions
A selection of HSFL spacecraft, current and past.
Completed
HyTI
Hyperspectral Thermal Imager — a 6U CubeSat funded by NASA's Earth Science Technology Office to demonstrate high spatial and spectral resolution thermal imaging from a CubeSat. Deployed from the International Space Station in April 2024 and deorbited on December 17, 2024.
ISS photos: NASA
Mission page →Lunar HyTI
Taking hyperspectral thermal imaging to the Moon, with mission planning built on SPICE kernels and dedicated flight software.
Code →
In development
Neutron-2
A dual CubeSat mission, developed with the University Nanosatellite Program, to measure neutron and gamma-ray flux and map neutron radiation in three dimensions in low Earth orbit. It builds on the Neutron-1 mission and its detector heritage.
Completed
Neutron-1
3U CubeSat carrying an Arizona State University neutron detector. Deployed from the International Space Station in November 2020 and deorbited in 2022 after completing its mission.
Photo: HSFL
Mission page →HiakaSat-1 & ORS-4
HSFL's microsatellite flew on ORS-4 in November 2015 aboard the Super Strypi rocket from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauaʻi.
Missions →Artemis CubeSat Kit
A low-cost 1U CubeSat kit with every essential subsystem, open hardware and flight software — built for classrooms across Hawaiʻi and beyond.
Code →Software & ground systems
The tools we build to fly spacecraft, open to the community.
COSMOS
Comprehensive Open-architecture Solution for Mission Operations Systems: an embedded operations environment for satellites, drones and rovers, covering flight software, simulation and ground.
cosmos-core · cosmosv5 · docs
F´ & Yamcs deployments
NASA F´ flight software deployments and Yamcs mission control integrations, including XTCE mission-database generation for flight and ground.
Ground station network
GNU Radio flowgraphs, rotator control and scheduling software for HSFL's ground stations.
Repositories
Our flagship open-source projects. Browse everything on the repositories page.
COSMOS v5
The core of the COSMOS ecosystem: libraries, runtime services and agent infrastructure for building and operating distributed robotic systems, including CubeSats, UAVs and ground stations. This workspace brings together all the layer repositories as submodules.
hsfl/cosmosv5 →Artemis CubeSat Kit
A low-cost, open-source 1U CubeSat kit with every essential subsystem. Funded by NASA's Artemis Student Challenge and built by UH Mānoa students under HSFL supervision, it comes with flight software, hardware designs and a curriculum.
hsfl/artemis-cubesat →Search all repositories
Education & outreach
HSFL trains the next generation of Hawaiʻi's aerospace workforce. Undergraduate and graduate students join mission teams, run ground stations and write flight code, while the Artemis CubeSat Kit and partnerships with community colleges bring hands-on space engineering to classrooms statewide.
Interested in joining a mission team, collaborating on research, or contributing to our open-source software? Get in touch, or open an issue or pull request on any of our repositories.
Contact
Hawaiʻi Space Flight LaboratoryUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
1680 East-West Road, POST 501
Honolulu, HI 96822
- Emailinfo@hsfl.hawaii.edu
- Phone(808) 956-3138
- Webhsfl.hawaii.edu
- GitHubgithub.com/hsfl