Move Beyond is an in-house developed modular power bus designed to serve as the electrical backbone for all future MOVE missions, starting with MOVE III. It represents a deliberate departure from the widely used PC/104 CubeSat standard, with the goal of improving system debuggability, simplifying assembly and integration, and enabling a more centralized and robust Electrical Power System (EPS) architecture.
At its core, Move Beyond adopts a backplane-based design in a compact 1U form factor, supporting scalable CubeSat configurations from 1U up to 6U. Unlike traditional stacked architectures, the system integrates power distribution, communication interfaces, and control functionality into a unified EPS backplane. This approach enables slot-agnostic subsystem integration, reduces wiring complexity, and allows for flexible system expansion and reconfiguration.
The Electrical Power System consists of four primary hardware elements: solar panels for power generation, a battery charge regulation and power management system integrated into the backplane, modular battery boards for energy storage, and the 1U EPS backplane itself. Together, these components provide a highly modular, scalable, and resilient power system capable of supporting a wide range of mission profiles.
To facilitate development and testing, the system is initially implemented on a 3U testbed, allowing easier debugging and integration before transitioning to the final 1U flight configuration. This iterative approach ensures system reliability while maintaining the flexibility required for future mission adaptations.
1U Backplane V7 – MOVE BEYOND
A render of the current Iteration of the 1U Backplane, representing the backbone of the current MOVE BEYOND Bus