Small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, announced today that its ESPA Grande Saturn spacecraft bus will be a part of the maiden QS-1 mission of Quantum Space in October 2024.
QS-1 will fly in cislunar space primarily around the two Earth-Moon-Lagrange Points 1 and 2, or EM-L1 and EM-L2, to establish commercial operations for Quantum. Key mission objectives will include producing space domain awareness data products, hosting customer payloads, advanced cislunar navigation methods and autonomous station keeping. The mission will leverage commercial ground station networks for space-to-ground communication. Mission and payload control will be conducted from a Quantum control center.
“Our Saturn product, with key enhancements for deep space, will provide Quantum Space with an architecture that has been designed specifically for these types of missions – a quiet, stable, agile platform to optimize use of the Quantum suite of instruments,” said Jeff Schrader, president, Blue Canyon Technologies.
In addition to BCT’s Saturn product being on the QS-1 mission, the company will also carry Quantum customer payloads to cislunar space.
Blue Canyon Technologies has demonstrated its robust production line with recently deliveries of multiple Saturn-class buses with more bus deliveries to follow by end of the year. These deliveries are a result of a successful, repeatable integration and environmental test campaign at BCT’s facilities.
The Saturn-class buses include advanced propulsion, a robust power system, command and data handling, radio frequency communications and dedicated payload interfaces capable of hosting a variety of payload phenomenologies at in the LEO, GEO, cislunar and deep space orbital regimes.
The Saturn-class bus product line will continue to provide high-performance, versatile platforms for commercial, civil, and DOD customers on a rapid cadence.
ABOUT BLUE CANYON TECHNOLOGIES
Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT), a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, is comprised of four business units: CubeSats, Microsats, Components, and Mission Operations. BCT offers a diverse portfolio of innovative, reliable, and affordable spacecraft and components that enable a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the new space economy. The company currently supports numerous unique missions with over 100 cumulative spacecraft orders. Microsatellites are manufactured at the 80,000 sq-ft Lafayette facility and CubeSats and components are manufactured in 40,000 sq-ft of dedicated facilities in Boulder, Colorado.
BCT has supported missions for the U.S. Air Force, NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and provided the Attitude Control Systems for the first interplanetary CubeSats, which successfully traveled to Mars. The company has been recognized with awards from Inc. Magazine’s 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies, the Best in Biz Award and the 2020 Tibbetts Award.
For the latest news on Blue Canyon Technologies and for other company information, please visit www.bluecanyontech.com. You can follow the company on LinkedIn here, Instagram here, or Twitter here.
ABOUT RAYTHEON INTELLIGENCE & SPACE
Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies business, delivers the disruptive technologies our customers need to succeed in any domain, against any challenge. A developer of advanced sensors, cyber services and software solutions, Raytheon Intelligence & Space provides a decisive advantage to civil, military and commercial customers around the world.
For more information, visit www.raytheonintelligenceandspace.com.