Small satellite manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies is developing a new 80,000-square-foot facility to expand production capabilities in Boulder, Colorado.

The company has been awarded an agreement with the United States Air Force Research Laboratory, serving as Department of Defense Executive Agent, to establish and scale up domestic production capability for the manufacture of space-qualified Next Generation Reaction Wheels and small Control Moment Gyroscopes. Reaction wheels and CMGs provide critical attitude control management functions of spacecraft. These products, which offer low to mid-level energy storage capabilities, are an important requirement for the increasing use of small satellite systems.

“Our company is one built on innovation and advanced aerospace engineering, and we are proud to partner with the DPA Title III program and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory on these next-generation components that are critical to unlocking the New Space economy,” said George Stafford, CEO and President of Blue Canyon Technologies.

The new attitude control technologies will be developed and implemented in two-phases: Phase one of the four-year project will focus on small satellite reaction wheels. BCT will ensure the availability of highly reliable, flight-proven reaction wheels for U.S. Government and commercial use in low-Earth orbit. The project will require BCT to refine the design of its existing reaction wheel line.

Phase two will include the design and development of a small CMG for highly agile small satellite missions. This phase will also focus on accommodating longer mission lives for Mid-Earth (MEO), Geostationary Earth (GEO), and Highly Elliptical Orbits (HEO).

Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc., 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.

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.