Building Smallsats: Inside Blue Canyon’s Manufacturing Facility

Raytheon Technologies purchased Blue Canyon Technologies in December, eyeing the market expansion in proliferated low-Earth-orbit constellations of small satellites, says Paul Meyer, vice president of Raytheon Intelligence & Space. Raytheon has drawn on Blue Canyon’s ESPA-class satellites of up to 250 kg (550 lb.) for DARPA’s Blackjack program and sees Blue Canyon satellites as a good fit for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 competition, the request for proposals for which was issued Aug. 30. “They have become an integral part today, by being a supplier of buses and components to the industry in this class of vehicles, as well as an opportunity for Raytheon to consider vertical integration when the market demands,” Meyer says.

About half of the space on this 3U cubesat goes to the payload. It is the same bus being used for NASA’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm intensity with a Constellation (Tropics) demonstration mission with MIT Lincoln Labs. The mission will be one of the first to use small satellites to track tropical storms and hurricanes.

Blue Canyon has a patented design for its high-precision reaction wheels with brushless DC motors, smooth bearings and an advanced lubrication system that provide low-jitter performance.

These small spacecraft use magnetic torque rods to help stabilize the satellite in space and control momentum in a way that is lighter and cheaper than using thrusters on a small spacecraft, where space and weight are at a premium.

The company supplies components, such as star trackers, which help a bus look at the stars to determine its position in space.

This cutaway model of the Blue Canyon bus shows the placement of components.