SBIR-STTR Award

ESPA Based Satellite Bus
Award last edited on: 7/12/2023

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
DOD : AF
Total Award Amount
$3,053,591
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
AF083-216
Principal Investigator
George Stafford

Company Information

Blue Canyon Technologies LLC (AKA: BCT)

1600 Range Street Suite 200
Boulder, CO 80301
   (720) 458-0703
   info@bluecanyontech.com
   www.bluecanyontech.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 02
County: Boulder

Phase I

Contract Number: FA9453-09-M-0143
Start Date: 2/13/2009    Completed: 2/12/2010
Phase I year
2009
Phase I Amount
$99,907
The Blue Canyon innovative approach is a combination of enabling technologies which, when coupled together, result in a revolutionary high-performance, low-cost systematic approach to Smallsats. The BCT ESPASat is able to provide a high performance design, compatible with a variety of EELV and specifically ESPA ring configurations at a low cost, primarily due to our innovative spacecraft architecture.  A summary of the BCT ESPASat features provided by this architecture include:   A proprietary electro-mechanical system design compatible with commercial, non-radhard electronics   Radiation / Fault tolerant architecture with predicted mission life of 1 to 2 years   Vibration dampening for electronics, mechanisms, and payload equipment   High system agility achieved by incorporation of micro-CMGs   High system Delta-V capability   Standard ESPA ring / payload mechanical and electrical interfaces  Blue Canyon Technologies engineers have leveraged extensive experience in development, test, and operations to arrive at this low cost, high-performance smallsat architecture which can be applied to commercial missions, military space test programs, military operational missions, and research applications.  

Benefit:
The Commercialization of this technology falls into three major categories:  1. As a Commercial Spacecraft Bus, the BCT ESPASat concept would provide a very affordable, dependable and responsive solution for smaller agencies, spanning Academia, NASA, and Military and Commercial sectors to access space for experimental and operational missions.  2. Commercialization of spacecraft subsystem components. Development for this architecture may be extended to the individual component level, where low cost could be achieved thru the extension of our innovations on a smaller scale.  3. As a proving ground for potential spaceflight components in a "proof of concept" environment. The BCT ESPASat development effort also provides an excellent opportunity to facilitate the migration of commercial components from purely terrestrial applications to qualification for spaceflight use.  

Keywords:
Espasat, Spacecraft, Espabus, Smallsat

Phase II

Contract Number: FA8650-19-C-9204
Start Date: 6/13/2019    Completed: 6/13/2021
Phase II year
2019
Phase II Amount
$2,953,684
The objective of this research is the development and demonstration of a small satellite bus that can operate effectively for up to 3 years in any Earth orbital regime and has flexible support for a broad range of payloads. The satellite must package for launch in a volume that is compatible with common rideshare launch such as the EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA), and provide support for a suitable propulsion system and a government payload.The design seeks to offer considerably more payload mass, power, data storage, agility, and volume available to payload providers, and thus a design that creates the opportunity for more missions to be performed.