The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency has issued a request for information to find space-based technology offerings for potential use in satellites that weigh less than 1,102 pounds.
Maxar Technologies’ SSL subsidiary has received a contract from Environmental Defense Fund to design and define requirements for a small satellite designed to detect and monitor methane emissions from oil and gas facilities worldwide. MethaneSAT is a small form-factor satellite that will work to provide high-resolution images to help detect and measure low- and high-emission sources in regions that constitute more than 80 percent of global production of oil and gas per week, Maxar said Thursday.Â
Harris plans to make an investment worth over $125M in research-and-development projects in Florida to support tech innovation and talent recruitment efforts in the state. The company said Monday R&D initiatives will focus on robotics, avionics, small satellite units and electronic warfare and will occur at the firm’s facilities in Central Florida in support of the company’s approximately 7K […] More
Harris has launched its first small satellite through a medium-lift launch vehicle developed by the India’s space research organization. The Harris Satellite is built to operate in low Earth orbit and seeks to address military and commercial communications requirements, the company said Thursday. The 6U cubesat uses a mission architecture designed for post-launch reconfiguration. Bill Gattle, president […] More
Boeing‘s Millennium Space Systems subsidiary has completed an 18-month mission to demonstrate the performance of small satellite subsystems while in orbit. Millennium said Tuesday it decomissioned the ALTAIR Pathfinder satellite through an operations center in El Segundo, Calif., and spent more than 13K hours to address technology risks. The internally funded mission aimed to showcase spacecraft components built to manage […] More
Maxar Technologies’ Radiant Solutions subsidiary has received a potential $2M contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to design and build a new optical telescope platform for constellations of small Earth observation satellites. Radiant Solutions will lead a team and combine its experience in geospatial mission engineering with SSL’s capability in spacecraft systems development […] More
NASA’s Langley Research Center is seeking potential partners in the development of a proposal that will help meet the requirements for the Earth System Science Pathfinder Program’s Earth Venture initiative. A FedBizOpps notice posted Monday says the space agency will select firms that have experience in designing, manufacturing, testing and supporting small satellites. Potential partners […] More
NASA has awarded blanket purchase agreements to three companies to provide the agency with Earth observation data sets derived from constellations of commercial small satellites. Maxar Technologies’ DigitalGlobe subsidiary, Planet and Spire received the sole-source contracts under the agency’s Private Sector Small Constellation Satellite Data Product Pilot program, NASA said Friday. “This pilot program is […] More
Raytheon has shipped the first small satellite for the Space Enabled Effects for Military Engagements program to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for integration onto a Spaceflight Industries payload. The defense contractor said Wednesday it designed the SeeMe satellite to provide real-time tactical imagery to American soldiers deployed in remote and beyond-line-of-sight environments to […] More
Some defense companies such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Boeing have made investments in startups that develop small satellites as the Pentagon and intelligence agencies work to counter space security threats through the use of Cubesats, the Washington Post reported Sunday. Raytheon announced a partnership with Herndon, Va.-based satellite firm HawkEye 360 on Monday, Sept. 10, […] More
Rob Zitz, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for government systems at Maxar Technologies’ SSL subsidiary, has said he believes intelligence and defense agencies will look to small satellites in the next few years to build up the capabilities of large spacecraft owned and run by the government, SpaceNews reported Tuesday. “We see growth […] More
NASA has licensed a patented technology to Thermal Management Technologies to develop the North Logan, Utah-based company’s small satellite release mechanism. The space agency said Monday TMT can use the Diminutive Assembly for Nanosatellite deploYables as basis for the Gecko Release Mechanism, which is designed to incorporate a gecko’s size and gripping capabilities. DANY stores deployable […] More