Blue Canyon Technologies Providing CubeSats in Support of Two NASA Ames/MIT CLICK Flight Demonstration Missions
BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Small satellite manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) announced it has been selected by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Small Spacecraft Technology program and NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, in collaboration with the University of Florida and MIT, to provide multiple 3U spacecraft for its CubeSat Lasercom Infrared Crosslink (CLICK) flight demonstration missions. The CubeSats will be used for separate demonstration missions: the first is a laser space-to-ground demonstration mission and the second will demonstrate laser crosslinks and ranging in low-Earth orbit.
“BCT has a unique advantage as a spacecraft bus provider as it is equipped to support high-rate body-pointed lasercom capabilities with our flight-proven precision stability and pointing,” said George Stafford, CEO and President of Blue Canyon Technologies.
The new communication capabilities demonstrated by CLICK will enable new classes of small satellite missions like swarms for remote sensing or global constellations for communications.
“Demonstrating precision timing and ranging over a lasercom crosslink using BCT CubeSat platforms will enable new capabilities for coordinated and distributed sensing missions,” said Kerri Cahoy, associate professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT.
The 3U spacecraft uses BCT’s heritage XB1 avionics to provide a state-of-the-art CubeSat platform that maximizes payload volume. The spacecraft includes ultra-high-performance pointing accuracy, a robust power system, command and data handling, RF communications, and dedicated payload interfaces. The spacecraft bus will be developed and tested at BCT’s Spacecraft Manufacturing Center in Colorado.
BCT is currently building more than 60 spacecraft for government, commercial and academic missions. The company has doubled in size over the past 12 months and plans to open its new 80,000-square-foot headquarters and production facility in 2020.
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 40 unique missions with over 70 spacecraft. The company currently has more than 50 satellites in production and is developing 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 Project (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, 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.
Contacts
Media: Hayle Bell, 720-458-0703
This article published with permission from Business Wire
