SkyForge Core: A Triple Modular Redundant Computing Architecture for Small Satellites

Authors

Peter Staritz, Taylor UniversityFollow
Harrison Schmitt, Taylor UniversityFollow
Thomas McWatters, Taylor UniversityFollow
Ethan Hoyt, Taylor UniversityFollow
Josh Ellman, Taylor UniversityFollow
Sameer Sikander, Taylor UniversityFollow
Nate Westrum, Taylor UniversityFollow
Jordan Clark, Taylor UniversityFollow
Taebaeksanmaek Jung, Taylor UniversityFollow
Micah Williams, Taylor UniversityFollow
Lauren Myers, Taylor UniversityFollow
Kelden Wright, Taylor UniversityFollow
Matthew Homburg, Taylor UniversityFollow
Alex Roth, Taylor UniversityFollow
Jinran Zhang, Taylor UniversityFollow

Document Type

Paper

Publication Date

Spring 2025

Abstract

As small satellite missions grow in complexity, there is increasing demand for greater onboard computational performance. Traditional radiation-hardened processors, while reliable, are expensive, slow, and suffer from long procurement timelines. In contrast, commercial off-the-shelf processors like the Raspberry Pi offer high performance at low cost but are vulnerable to radiation-induced faults such as single-event upsets. SkyForge Core is an experimental computing system that addresses this challenge by integrating three Raspberry Pi Zero W units into a triple modular redundant architecture. The system executes identical tasks on each Pi, compares outputs using majority voting, and identifies discrepancies. If a failure occurs, the system continues operation while executing a recovery operation on the affected processor. This architecture will be demonstrated aboard a Near Space Launch smallsat in early 2026. SkyForge Core aims to validate the architecture, collect data on failure rates in low earth orbit, and characterize system performance in space.

Notes

Courses:

ENP 495, Engineering Senior Capstone III (Dr. Peter Staritz)

ENP 392, Junior Engineering Project (Dr. Peter Staritz)

Recommended Citation

Staritz, Peter; Schmitt, Harrison; McWatters, Thomas; Hoyt, Ethan; Ellman, Josh; Sikander, Sameer; Westrum, Nate; Clark, Jordan; Jung, Taebaeksanmaek; Williams, Micah; Myers, Lauren; Wright, Kelden; Homburg, Matthew; Roth, Alex; and Zhang, Jinran, "SkyForge Core: A Triple Modular Redundant Computing Architecture for Small Satellites" (2025). Physics & Engineering Student Papers. 1.
https://pillars.taylor.edu/physics-engineering-student-papers/1