Blue Canyon Technologies Provides Microsats for NASA Pioneers Missions

The Aspera and Pandora Missions were recently selected by NASA for further concept development

January 27, 2021 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Leading small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies, LLC. (“BCT” or “Blue Canyon”) today announced it is providing the microsatellites for NASA’s Pioneers Aspera and Pandora missions – small-scale astrophysics missions.

“We are providing high-performance microsats capable of supporting astrophysics missions at a price point never before possible,” said George Stafford, CEO of Blue Canyon. “The missions will demonstrate our ability to be a mission-enabler in the areas of exoplanet characterization and the intergalactic medium.”

BCT will build a Mercury-class microsat to support the Aspera mission from the University of Arizona, which will examine hot gas in the space between galaxies, otherwise known as the intergalactic medium. While the intergalactic medium is a major component of the universe, it remains poorly measured, which Aspera aims to address.

BCT also provided a Venus-class Microsat – part of the X-SAT product line to support Pandora, a mission from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Goddard Space Flight Center. This small satellite will study 20 stars and their 39 exoplanets in visible and infrared light, with the mission to disentangle the signals from stars and planetary atmospheres. Understanding how starlight changes can affect measurements of exoplanets is an outstanding problem in the search for habitable planets beyond the solar system.

About Blue Canyon Technologies

Blue Canyon Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, offers a diverse portfolio of innovative, reliable and affordable spacecraft that enable a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the new space economy, reducing the barriers of space entry. BCT is currently supporting nearly 50 unique missions with over 90 spacecraft, all in production at their newly developed 80,000-square-foot facility in Lafayette, 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, Best in Biz award, ColoradoBiz Made in Colorado Emerging Manufacturer Winner 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 Instagram here or Twitter here.

Blue Canyon Technologies Deploys Multiple Components Aboard Falcon 9 Launch

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan 25, 2021–

Leading small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies, LLC. (“BCT” or “Blue Canyon”) today announced the launch of multiple components aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9, including FleXcore Attitude Control Systems and Next-Generation Reaction Wheels.

“Our versatile components are helping reduce the barrier to space,” said George Stafford, CEO of Blue Canyon. “We provide the performance, flexibility and cost-efficiency needed to increase the viability of commercial missions.”

The components supported a variety of commercial missions, including two commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites for Capella Space and SAMSON, and an experimental mission of Technicon to demonstrate long-term formation flight.

Blue Canyon’s FleXcore system offers a high-performance, cost-efficient modular Attitude Determination and Control System platform that’s scalable to a wide range of bus sizes and mission requirements. BCT’s attitude control systems have flown on a variety of small satellites, including micro-sat spacecraft, and was first put on-orbit in 2016. In May of 2019, BCT announced it would provide 12 precision pointing platforms, built on the company’s FleXcore product, to Capella Space, the U.S.-based information services company providing Earth observation data on demand.

BCT’s Reaction Wheels are built to provide spacecraft with the precise combination of torque and momentum storage necessary to navigate a successful mission. Brushless DC motors, ultra-smooth bearings, and the BCT Reaction Wheel advanced lubrication system ensures low-jitter performance and long mission life.

About Blue Canyon Technologies

Blue Canyon Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, offers a diverse portfolio of innovative, reliable and affordable spacecraft that enable a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the new space economy, reducing the barriers of space entry. BCT is currently supporting nearly 50 unique missions with over 90 spacecraft, all in production at their newly developed 80,000-square-foot facility in Lafayette, 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, Best in Biz award, ColoradoBiz Made in Colorado Emerging Manufacturer Winner 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 Instagram here or Twitter here.

Blue Canyon Technologies Announces Completion of Acquisition by Raytheon Technologies

Acquisition allows Blue Canyon to quickly scale production and pursue larger, more complex space missions

December 21, 2020 05:27 PM Eastern Standard Time

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Leading small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies (“BCT” or “Blue Canyon”) announced today the completion of its acquisition by Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX), an aerospace and defense company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. BCT now reports into Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a business of Raytheon Technologies.

“Raytheon Intelligence & Space delivers the disruptive technologies customers need to succeed,” said George Stafford, president and CEO of Blue Canyon. “Joining this team will enable our innovative small-satellite solutions to continue to transform the space industry and drive our customers’ success.”

Blue Canyon’s diverse portfolio of spacecraft has successfully enabled a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the U.S. Government and new space economy, further reducing the barriers of space entry. The acquisition allows BCT to grow its innovative product line to meet customer demand, including small satellite solutions including nanosatellites, microsatellites, ESPA-class satellites, and related technology.

BCT is currently building more than 90 spacecraft for government, commercial and academic missions. BCT has seen significant growth over the past 12 months and recently opened its new 80,000-square-foot Satellite Constellation Factory headquarters and production facility in Lafayette, Colorado. BCT will continue to serve its customer base under the current business name and brand from their Boulder and Lafayette, Colorado facilities.

About Blue Canyon Technologies

Blue Canyon Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, offers a diverse portfolio of innovative, reliable and affordable spacecraft that enable a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the new space economy, reducing the barriers of space entry. BCT is currently supporting nearly 50 unique missions with over 90 spacecraft, all in production at their newly developed 80,000-square-foot facility in Lafayette, 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, 2019 Best in Biz award, 2019 ColoradoBiz Made in Colorado Emerging Manufacturer Winner 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 Instagram here or Twitter here.

About Raytheon Intelligence & Space

Raytheon Intelligence & Space delivers the disruptive technologies our customers need to succeed in any domain, against any challenge. A developer of advanced sensors, training, and cyber and software solutions, Raytheon Intelligence & Space provides a decisive advantage to civil, military and commercial customers in more than 40 countries around the world. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, the business generated $14 billion in pro forma annual revenue in 2019 and has 35,700 employees worldwide. Raytheon Intelligence & Space is one of four businesses that form Raytheon Technologies Corporation.

Small Satellite Leader Blue Canyon Technologies Completes CDR for DARPA Blackjack Program

BCT demonstrated maturity and capability of its X-SAT bus design which will enhance LEO communications for the U.S. Department of Defense

December 14, 2020 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Leading small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc. (“BCT” or “Blue Canyon”) announced today that it has completed its critical design review (CDR) for the Blackjack Program, a military space capabilities demonstration being developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

By incorporating commercial sector advances in low-Earth orbit (LEO), including designs used for LEO broadband internet service, the goal of the Blackjack program is to demonstrate that a constellation of LEO satellites meets U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) performance and payload requirements, at a significantly lower cost, with shorter design cycles and with easier and more frequent technology upgrades. The Blackjack program aims to establish an economy of scale not previously available with current National Security Space (NSS) assets, which are large, costly, and would take years to replace if degraded or destroyed.

“BCT is proud to have reached this new milestone in the development of the Blackjack program for DARPA,” said George Stafford, President and CEO of Blue Canyon Technologies. “The completion of this CDR has instilled further confidence in our design and displayed more power capability than was initially expected. This not only reflects the hard work and expertise of the extremely talented team at BCT, but also the great potential for the Blackjack program to reduce costs while maximizing performance capabilities and meeting payload requirements.”

The Blackjack program CDR took place over a two-day period at BCT’s Satellite Constellation Factory in Lafayette, Colorado. It was conducted both virtually, as well in person, while in complete accordance with appropriate COVID-19 safety precautions to keep team members from each organization safe.

With approximately 40 engineers and scientific partners participating, BCT was able to demonstrate maturity of the X-SAT Saturn-class bus design, validating the design and capabilities of the system in support of the Blackjack program. The CDR completes the third milestone, which will culminate in the first two flight buses being delivered to DARPA for payload integration in August 2021.

The DARPA contract has an initial award value of $14.2 million with a total potential value of $99.4 million if all options are exercised. Now that the final design of the multi-mission bus has been completed, BCT will begin procurement for the build of the first four satellites. The customized X-SAT bus will include state-of-the-art electric propulsion, a robust power system, command and data handling, RF communications and dedicated payload interfaces capable of hosting several different DoD payloads. The spacecraft will be delivered on a rapid timeline to support the critical DARPA demonstration schedule, with the first spacecraft to be delivered in mid-2021.

About Blue Canyon Technologies

Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc., (BCT) offers a diverse portfolio of innovative, reliable and affordable spacecraft that enable a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the new space economy, reducing the barriers of space entry. BCT is currently supporting nearly 50 unique missions with over 90 spacecraft and has more than 90 satellites in production in their newly developed 80,000-square-foot facility in Lafayette, Colorado.

BCT has supported missions for The U.S. Air Force, NASA, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and provided the Attitude Control Systems for the first interplanetary CubeSats, which successfully traveled to Mars. The company has been recognized with Inc. Magazine’s 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies, 2019 Best in Biz, 2019 ColoradoBiz Made in Colorado Emerging Manufacturer Winner 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 Instagram here or Twitter here.

Blue Canyon Technologies Named 2020 Best in Biz Award Winner

Blue Canyon Technologies recognized as a Fastest Growing Company of the Year

December 09, 2020 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Leading small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc. (“BCT” or “Blue Canyon”) has been recognized for its innovation and growth after being named a winner of the 2020 Best in Biz Awards, the only independent business awards program judged by prominent editors and reporters from top-tier publications in North America. The company earned a Bronze award in the Fastest-Growing Company of the Year (Medium-sized) category. This marks the second consecutive year in which BCT received recognition from the Best in Biz Awards, also winning an award for Fastest-Growing Company in 2019.

Since its founding in 2008, BCT’s diverse spacecraft platform has demonstrated the proven capability to enable a broad range of missions and technological advances for the New Space economy, further reducing the barriers of space entry. The company’s recent successes have allowed it to continually expand and add to its knowledgeable and talented staff – BCT currently has roughly 300 employees, 100 which have been added in the past year alone.

BCT is currently building more than 90 spacecraft for government, commercial and academic missions. BCT has seen significant growth over the past 12 months and recently opened its new 80,000-square-foot Satellite Constellation Factory headquarters and production facility in Lafayette, Colorado.

The company has won numerous large-scale contracts and contract extensions in the last year including DARPA’s Blackjack Program, as well as Environmental Defense Fund’s MethaneSAT project.

Combining top editors’ and reporters’ unparalleled expertise and experience with the objectivity inherent in the journalistic ethos and further enhanced by the breadth and variety of outlets and reporters represented, Best in Biz Awards judging panels are uniquely able to determine the best of the best from among the hundreds of competitive entries. The 2020 judging panel included, among others, writers from Barron’s, USA Today and Wired.

About Blue Canyon Technologies

Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc., (BCT) offers a diverse portfolio of innovative, reliable, and affordable spacecraft that enable a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the new space economy, reducing the barriers of space entry. BCT is currently supporting nearly 50 unique missions with over 90 spacecraft and has more than 90 satellites in production in their newly developed 80,000-square-foot facility in Boulder, Colorado.

BCT has supported missions for The U.S. Air Force, NASA, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and provided the Attitude Control Systems for the first interplanetary CubeSats, which successfully traveled to Mars. The company has been recognized with Inc. Magazine’s 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies, 2019 Best in Biz, 2019 ColoradoBiz Made in Colorado Emerging Manufacturer Winner 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 Instagram here or Twitter here.

Small Satellite Leader Blue Canyon Technologies to Be Acquired by Raytheon Technologies

Acquisition will allow Blue Canyon to quickly scale production and pursue larger, more complex space missions

November 10, 2020 05:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Leading small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc. (“BCT” or “Blue Canyon”) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX), an aerospace and defense company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. BCT will report into Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a business of Raytheon Technologies, subject to certain regulatory and customary closing conditions.

Blue Canyon’s diverse portfolio of spacecraft has successfully enabled a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the U.S. Government and new space economy, further reducing the barriers of space entry. The acquisition will allow BCT to grow its innovative product line of turnkey small satellite solutions, including nanosatellites, microsatellites, and ESPA-class satellites, and related technology and meet increasing customer demand.

“Raytheon Technologies is a leader in developing advanced sensors, cyber and software solutions,” said George Stafford, president and CEO of Blue Canyon. “That leadership, coupled with our innovative and turnkey small-satellite solutions, will allow us to continue to disrupt the space industry and drive our customers’ success.”

BCT is currently building more than 90 spacecraft for government, commercial and academic missions. BCT has seen significant growth over the past 12 months and recently opened its new 80,000-square-foot Satellite Constellation Factory headquarters and production facility in Lafayette, Colorado.

BCT will continue to serve its customer base under the current business name and brand from their Boulder and Lafayette, Colorado facilities.

Jefferies LLC served as the exclusive financial advisor to Blue Canyon Technologies and King & Spalding LLP and Hutchinson Black and Cook, LLC served as legal advisors in connection with the transaction.

About Blue Canyon Technologies

Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc., a Colorado-based company founded in 2008 to bring innovative, reliable and affordable solutions to space missions, is an experienced integrator of aerospace systems and developer of advanced aerospace products and technologies. BCT is a vertically integrated spacecraft manufacturer supporting nearly 50 unique missions with over 90 spacecraft.

BCT has supported missions for the U.S. Air Force, NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and many others and provided the Attitude Control Systems for the first interplanetary CubeSats which successfully traveled to Mars. The company has been recognized with awards including the 2020 Inc Magazine’s 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies, 2017 Colorado Companies to Watch, 2019 Best in Biz and the 2019 Colorado Biz Made in Colorado Emerging Manufacturer Winner.

About Raytheon Technologies

Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an aerospace and defense company that provides advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. With four industry-leading businesses ― Collins Aerospace Systems, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Raytheon Missiles & Defense ― the company delivers solutions that push the boundaries in avionics, cybersecurity, directed energy, electric propulsion, hypersonics, and quantum physics. The company, formed in 2020 through the combination of Raytheon Company and the United Technologies Corporation aerospace businesses, is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Pandemic not slowing upward trajectory of Colorado’s aerospace industry, the nation’s second-largest

State’s aerospace sector grew 7.2% in 2019, more than 19% over five years

By JUDITH KOHLER | jkohler@denverpost.com | The Denver Post PUBLISHED: October 2, 2020

In 2008, George Stafford, Matt Beckner and Stephen Steg, all University of Colorado graduates with experience in the aerospace industry, started their own company to make components for satellites. This year, their company, Blue Canyon Technologies, opened an 80,000-square-foot satellite factory in Lafayette.

“We actually started the project last fall in anticipation of the growth in the company for factory-scale production,” said Beckner, the chief operating officer.

Blue Canyon has another 55,000 square feet of offices, clean rooms and production facilities in Boulder. The company, with 270 employees, has added 58 new positions since March, the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S.

Blue Canyon isn’t alone in flourishing during a pandemic and a national recession. Several aerospace companies in Colorado are hiring new employees and expanding or building new plants and offices. They include industry heavyweights such as Ball Aerospace, Lockheed MartinRaytheon Technologies and Sierra Nevada Corp. to smaller companies such as Blue Canyon, Astroscale U.S. and York Space Systems.

“Not only the Colorado space economy but the national space economy is weathering the whole COVID-19 pandemic fairly well,” said Jay Lindell, the aerospace and defense industry champion in the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

However, the Colorado aerospace sector stands out in one specific area. “We’re still the No.1 space economy in the nation based on per capita employment,” Lindell said.

A report by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. says Colorado’s overall private aerospace employment of 30,020 in 2019 was second only to California’s and was the highest per capita in the nation. Aerospace employment grew 7.2% from 2018 to 2019 and by 19.4% from 2014 to 2019, according to the report.

“To be honest, we’re not seeing a slowdown for 2020 in aerospace and defense. We’re seeing hiring activity, we’re seeing expansion activity,” said Vicky Lea, director of aerospace and aviation at Metro Denver EDC.

The 2019 report on the industry showed there are nearly 280 aerospace businesses in Colorado and more than 500 companies and suppliers providing space-related products and services. The analysis says 57,830 private and military workers in Colorado support an additional 140,390 workers in all industries, bringing direct and indirect jobs supported by the aerospace sector to 198,220.

The total aerospace payroll was nearly $3.9 billion in 2018 and the industry contributes more than $15 billion to Colorado’s economy annually.

Colorado is home to some of the industry’s biggest players, major universities with renowned engineering and aerospace programs, military and defense space programs and is the provisional headquarters of the U.S. Space Command. A decision is expected in January on whether Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs will be the permanent location.

In addition, Colorado has several startups and small aerospace companies producing cutting-edge technologies. Lea said about 64% of the state’s aerospace companies employ 10 or fewer people.

“I’d say that’s the strength of our industry, really, these very innovative small businesses that invent or have new technology that directly applies to multiple industries, but especially to the aerospace industry,” Lindell said.

The AAA of outer space

Astroscale U.S., whose parent company, Astroscale Holdings, is based in Japan, began operations in April 2019. In June, the Denver-based company acquired the intellectual property and other assets of Effective Space Solutions, an Israeli company working to extend the life of satellites in orbit.

“We’re driven by the vision of space sustainability. As humans continue to launch into space and expand into space, it’s very exciting. It adds a lot of economic value back here on Earth, in terms of communications, internet connectivity, remote sensing,” said Ron Lopez, the company’s president and managing director.

At the same time, all the satellites and other crafts providing vital information and services are adding a lot of orbiting debris, setting up potential collisions that could have drastic impacts on those services. There are more than 34,000 pieces of debris bigger than 4 inches in diameter and hundreds of millions that are smaller, according to Astroscale.

“Over the next 10 years, we’re going to see about three times more stuff get launched into space than has ever been launched since humankind started launching stuff back in the era of Sputnik,” Lopez said.

Astroscale is solely dedicated to providing on-orbit services to bring down dead satellites, remove debris and repair and upgrade satellites in geostationary orbit, about 22,000 miles above the equator, rather than send up replacements. The Denver-based company is preparing for an on-orbit demonstration of docking with an object and bringing it down into the atmosphere where it will burn up.

“Maybe the not-so-exciting way to put it is we’re like the AAA of space,” Lopez said.

Nine people work in Denver’s Astroscale office. The rest of the 17-member staff works in Washington, D.C. Lopez said the company recently hired key executives and plans to hire more people.

Shooting for the moon

The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t slowed Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Space Systems. Work continues on its main project, Dream Chaser, a winged craft scheduled to make its first flight to the International Space Station in late 2021.

The space program, based in Louisville, is on one of three sets of teams vying to provide a module to ferry astronauts and cargo to and from the moon’s surface as part of NASA’s Artemis project, which plans to land the first woman on the moon by 2024.

“Even with COVID-19, the aerospace industry is booming. We have lots and lots of things that we’re working on,” said Janet Kavandi, senior vice president for the company’s space business sector.

The biggest program is Dream Chaser, which harks back to the space shuttle’s design. It will land on a runway. Its launch is officially set for late 2021, but that could slip into 2022 in large part because of delays caused by the pandemic, said Kavandi, a former NASA astronaut.

“I think a lot of the aerospace industry has similar challenges with suppliers, getting parts and materials,” Kavandi said.

However, the coronavirus outbreak hasn’t slowed hiring at Sierra Nevada.

“We’ve implemented a really good work-from-home and work-from-work kind of split where we have kept our workforce safe. We’ve had no transmissions of the virus at work,” Kavandi said. “And we are actively hiring. We continue to need new talent, especially in the engineering and technical areas, but really across all aspects.”

Space Systems filled about 200 positions so far this year and has 57 current openings. Sierra Nevada has roughly 2,000 employees in Colorado, including in defense-related work.

Providing building blocks

Dylan Taylor, a longtime investor in the space business, started a company in 2019 to provide the structure to make it easier for medium-sized businesses to take their work to the next level. Taylor said Voyager Space Holdings is an operating company that provides the business functions and a presence in Washington, D.C., that smaller companies likely couldn’t build on their own.

“The idea is we’re acquiring very highly capable, technically innovative companies that aren’t startups but are relatively small companies,” Taylor said. “They’re generating revenue, generating profit. They’ve been in business for some time and had some success, but they’re looking to be part of a larger ecosystem.”

Taylor, CEO and chairman of Denver-based Voyager, said the founders and managers of the businesses that are acquired retain some equity. Voyager represents the effort to fill a gap that Taylor saw in the aerospace industry between the large companies and the entrepreneurial startups.

“I think the challenge in the industry now is scaling up, taking $20 million or $50 million revenue companies and creating $500 million companies or billion-dollar revenue companies.”

Voyager recently acquired two Denver-area companies: Altius Space Machines in Broomfield and Pioneer Aeronautics in Lakewood. Altius is a robotics company with expertise in technology used for on-orbit servicing of satellites and removing space debris.

Taylor said Pioneer Aeronautics, a research and development company, recently won a contract from NASA to work on extracting oxygen from soil on the moon. Being able to tap resources in space to produce water, oxygen and fuel, what NASA calls in-situ resource utilization, will be essential for longer stays in space.

No better time to be in the industry

The coronavirus scrubbed this year’s Space Symposium, held annually in April by the Space Foundation. The symposium, which draws industry representatives and businesses from around the world, has been rescheduled for August 2021, said Tom Zelibor, the foundation’s CEO.

The Colorado Springs-based foundation will participate in the 20th Annual World Space Week Oct. 4-10 with both virtual and in-person events. Zelibor said the event’s theme, “Space Unites,” closely aligns with the foundation’s belief that “space is for all.”

Despite postponements and challenges caused by the pandemic, Zelibor said the foundation, which produces a quarterly report on the industry, sees “incredible growth” in the space business. In 2019, the industry was valued at nearly $424 billion, up from about $245 billion a decade ago, Zelibor said.

“Personally, I don’t believe there’s a better time to be in the space industry,” said Zelibor, a retired Navy Rear Admiral and a former director of global operations for the U.S. Strategic Command. “I haven’t seen this much excitement in the space industry since back in the Apollo days.”

He attributes a lot of the excitement to the involvement of such commercial enterprises as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin as well as interest from Google and other corporations.

There’s also a recognition that space is part of the critical infrastructure of our lives, Zelibor said. “It touches every part of our lives every day. It’s a national imperative. There’s no avoiding it. It’s part of military operations, part of our financial operations. It’s just part of everyday life.”

Zelibor said he spreads the message that space isn’t just for rocket scientists and astronauts. As the industry matures and expands, it needs manufacturers, people with entrepreneurial and business skills, legal expertise, communications and problem-solving abilities. He tells the story of an aerospace company that needed someone with fine motor skills to work on circuit boards. The company trained one of Boulder County’s better tattoo artists for the position.

“I don’t think there’s a single set of ingredients for a successful employee in the space industry.”

Blue Canyon selects Orbion electric thrusters for DARPA’s Blackjack satellites

by Sandra Erwin with Space News — September 15, 2020

Orbion is a four-year-old startup in Houghton, Michigan, that specializes in Hall-effect plasma thrusters for small satellites.

WASHINGTON — Small satellite manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies announced Sept. 15 it selected Orbion Space Technology to supply the electric propulsion system for the U.S. military’s Blackjack constellation.

Blue Canyon is producing four satellites for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Blackjack program. DARPA plans to launch as many as 20 small satellites to demonstrate that a mesh network in low Earth orbit can meet military requirements at lower cost and shorter design cycles than traditional Pentagon programs.

DARPA in October 2018 selected Colorado-based Blue Canyon as one of the satellite bus suppliers for Blackjack. The agency in June 2020 awarded the company a $14.1 million contract to manufacture four satellites, with options worth $99 million for up to 20 satellites.

Orbion is a four-year-old startup in Houghton, Michigan, that specializes in Hall-effect plasma thrusters for small satellites.

William Schum, program manager at Blue Canyon, told SpaceNews the company looked at electric propulsion systems from several vendors and chose Orbion’s because it offered the most reliable solution for the price. “It was definitely competitive and it was a tough competition,” said Schum. “At the end of the day what carries the most weight is the technical risk, and their solution showed the least technical risk amongst the competitors.”

Orbion CEO Brad King said plasma thruster technology is mature but is now being mass produced and affordable for proliferated LEO constellations.

Blackjack is leading the way in the military’s deployment of a proliferated electric propulsion architecture, King told SpaceNews. “This is the first time our government needs a relatively large number of sophisticated smallsat electric propulsion systems.”

Orbion has other customers for its Aurora plasma thrusters but the only one that King would disclose is AST & Science, a company in Texas developed a LEO constellation to provide 4G and 5G cellular coverage.

Blackjack’s satellites are about 150 kilograms. Schum said Orbion’s electric propulsion fits the maneuver requirements for that size spacecraft.

Blue Canyon Technologies Provides Key Hardware for Fifth Consecutive AIAA/USU Small Satellite of the Year Award Winner

September 14, 2020 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–For the fifth consecutive year, small satellite manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) has provided critical hardware for the winner of the AIAA Small Satellite of the Year Award. The award was presented at the 2020 AIAA Small Satellite Conference, which was held virtually this year.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Technical Committee awarded the 2020 title to the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) mission, led by principal investigator Dr. J. Vanderlei Martins from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). The spacecraft was manufactured by the Space Dynamics Laboratory to carry the UMBC Earth and Space Institute-built HARP payload, and was deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) in February after being delivered to the station on a Cygnus cargo spacecraft. The CubeSat carries an imaging polarimeter designed to measure properties of cloud and aerosol particles in Earth’s atmosphere. BCT supplied the XACT-15 model of its state-of-the-art XACT Attitude Control System for the HARP mission, providing Space Dynamics Laboratory with industry leading pointing accuracy for its CubeSat.

The Small Satellite of the Year Awards are presented annually to a mission that has demonstrated a significant improvement in the capability of small satellites. Eligible missions must have individual satellite wet mass of less than 150 kg, and must have launched, established communication, and have acquired results from on-orbit after January 1 of the previous year.

Previous award-winning missions Blue Canyon Technologies has supported also include:

  • The JPL-led MarCO mission (2019): The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Technical Committee awarded the 2019 title to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) MarCO mission. MarCO is the first interplanetary CubeSat mission, having successfully traveled through deep space to Mars. BCT provided its XACT Attitude Control System for both MarCO-A and MarCO-B, two briefcase-sized satellites that accompanied the Insight lander and provided near-real-time telemetry as the rover pierced the atmosphere of the Red Planet.
  • The JPL-led ASTERIA mission (2018): BCT provided the XACT ADCS component for the Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics (ASTERIA) mission. The primary objective of the mission was to demonstrate that its small payload could look for exoplanets that transit their parent star, via precision observation. Deployed from the International Space Station, ASTERIA is the first CubeSat to achieve sub-arcsecond pointing accuracy. The highly integrated XACT enabled the groundbreaking pointing accuracy, with a native stability of 1.6 arcseconds. Data from the payload showed the pointing stability could be achieved by the XACT alone.
  • NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) (2017): CYGNSS is a constellation of 8 microsatellites, manufactured and operated by the University of Michigan and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). The low-Earth orbit satellites make frequent measurements of ocean surface winds to monitor the location, size, intensity and development of tropical cyclones, mostly looking for how they intensify. BCT provided 24 high-performance RWp015 Reaction Wheels and 8 Star Trackers for the mission constellation.
  • MinXSS-1 (2016): BCT manufactured its first XACT Attitude Control System for the University of Colorado (LASP) MinXSS-1 mission. On orbit for 354 days, MinXSS-1 collected soft X-ray emissions from the sun to measure their intensity.

BCT’s contribution to Space Dynamics Laboratory’s award is the latest in a series of milestone accomplishments in 2020 including being selected for the Inc. 5000 list of most successful companies in America, a number of high-profile contracts including phases 2 and 3 of the Blackjack program for DARPA, as well as the opening of its state-of-the-art Crescent manufacturing facility.

About BCT

Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc., (BCT) a Colorado-based private company founded in 2008 to bring innovative, reliable and affordable solutions to space missions, is an experienced integrator of aerospace systems and developer of advanced aerospace products and technologies. BCT is a vertically integrated spacecraft manufacturer supporting nearly 50 unique missions with over 90 spacecraft. The company currently has more than 90 satellites in production and recently opened a new 80,000-square-foot facility for high rate production.

BCT has supported missions for The U.S. Air Force, NASA, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and many others and provided the Attitude Control Systems for the first interplanetary CubeSats which successfully traveled to Mars. The company has been recognized with awards including Inc Magazine’s 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies, 2017 Colorado Companies to Watch, 2019 Best in Biz and the 2019 Colorado Biz Made in Colorado Emerging Manufacturer Winner.

For the latest news on Blue Canyon Technologies and for other company information, please visit www.bluecanyontech.com.

Blue Canyon Technologies Readies for MethaneSAT Mission with Critical Design Review

SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

Partnerships and passion to ensure that methane emissions are tracked and documented has brought together partners from MethaneSAT LLC, Ball Aerospace and Harvard University, small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT).

The team announced completion of the Critical Design Review (CDR) for the upcoming MethaneSAT mission. BCT is manufacturing the microsatellite for the groundbreaking mission. MethaneSAT is a subsidiary of the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund. The donor-funded mission will provide global, high-resolution detection and quantification of methane emissions from oil and gas facilities, as well as measure emissions from other human-generated methane sources. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with over 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years that it is in the atmosphere. 

The comprehensive data from MethaneSAT will be made available to the public, and provide companies, governments and other stakeholders with a new way to track, quantify and take actionable steps to reduce methane emissions.

The MethaneSAT Spacecraft Bus CDR took place over a two-day period and was conducted virtually to accommodate the ongoing COVID-19 impacts and to keep team members from each organization safe. With over 70 engineers and scientific partners participating, the CDR demonstrated that the spacecraft bus designs meet the proposed requirements. The CDR completes the third milestone which culminates in the spacecraft bus being delivered to Ball Aerospace for payload integration in September 2021.

“This is a complex, technically challenging mission driven by the profound urgency of climate change. An intensive design process up front ensures that we can move quickly from here. The result is a more powerful measurement tool than even we thought possible,” said Cassandra Ely, Director at MethaneSAT LLC.  Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our mission partners, MethaneSAT is now moving from the drawing boards and onto the assembly floor.”

“So much remains unknown about the true climate footprint of human beings. This mission will empower global leaders to make data-driven decisions about our fight against climate impact,” says Lorie Booth, Program Manager at Blue Canyon Technologies. 

The satellite will be designed using BCT’s newest X-SAT line of spacecraft, specifically the X-SAT Saturn-Class which can carry payloads up to 200 kg. As with other buses included in the X-SAT product line, the Saturn-Class is a high-agility platform, enabling the onboard instrument to collect data and revisit sites frequently, a key capability for the MethaneSAT mission. 

Current methane monitoring instruments have either a wide, global mapping capability or a sensitive, point-detection capability. MethaneSAT will provide much higher sensitivity and spatial resolution than today’s global mappers, combined with a far wider field of view than a point-source system. The X-SAT Saturn-Class’s compact profile is designed to maximize the volume, mass and power available for the unique new methane measuring instrument, which is being built by Ball Aerospace. 

“Reducing methane emissions is critical to slowing the pace of climate change, and we’re proud that our small-satellite technology will help MethaneSAT and Environmental Defense Fund with this important mission,” says George Stafford, President and CEO of Blue Canyon Technologies. “Our technology will make it less expensive and quicker to launch, allowing them to collect more data sooner.”

Human-generated methane emissions are responsible for more than 25 percent of global warming we currently experience. EDF calculates that reducing global oil and gas methane emissions 45 percent by 2025 would deliver the same near-term benefit to the climate as closing 1,300 coal-fired power plants.

Blue Canyon’s diverse spacecraft platform has the proven capability to enable a broad range of missions and technological advances for the New Space economy, further reducing the barriers of space entry.

BCT is currently building more than 90 spacecraft for government, commercial and academic missions. The company has doubled in size over the past 12 months and recently opened its new 80,000-square-foot headquarters and production facility in Lafayette, Colorado.