Design and Numerical Assessment of a Compact SWIR Optical Payload with Switchable Spectral Bands for a CubeSat

Dulat Akzhigitov, Berik Zhumazhanov, Aigul Kulakayeva, Beksultan Zhumazhanov

2026

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DOI 10.3390/aerospace13070660
Data confidence 70 medium
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Abstract

This paper presents the design and numerical assessment of a compact short-wave infrared (SWIR) optical payload for a CubeSat nanosatellite platform. The proposed payload is intended to provide sequential imaging in selected SWIR bands using a revolver filter wheel while accommodating a long-focal-length optical system within a limited 3U volume. The optical layout is based on a modified Maksutov configuration with an effective focal length of approximately 550 mm and an aperture of 84 mm. The system is designed to achieve a ground sampling distance (GSD) of ≤15 m at an orbital altitude of 500–550 km. For sequential imaging in different regions of the SWIR range, filters with central wavelengths of 1.24, 1.6, 1.9, and 2.1 μm are used together with an additional broadband window. The optical performance was evaluated using spot diagrams and modulation transfer function (MTF) analysis for the selected spectral bands. A preliminary thermo-optical sensitivity assessment was also performed over the temperature range from −20 °C to +40 °C by considering temperature-induced changes in axial distances between optical elements and surface curvatures caused by material expansion. The results indicate that the MTF at the detector Nyquist frequency of 33 lp/mm remains above the selected threshold of 0.1 for the considered spectral bands and uniform temperature states. The proposed configuration demonstrates the feasibility of implementing a compact long-focal-length SWIR payload with filter-wheel-based band selection for CubeSat missions, while maintaining the required calculated image quality within the considered design-stage assumptions.