BCT Press Release for BCT RAVAN Spacecraft

Blue Canyon Technologies
2425 55th St, Suite 200, BLDG A
Boulder, CO 80301
www.bluecanyontech.com
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: George Stafford, 720-458-0703
Blue Canyon Technologies to Build New Spacecraft for Earth Climate
Science Mission
BOULDER, Colorado – April 13, 2015 – Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) has been awarded a contract to
build, test, and operate a new high-performance nano-satellite. BCT will be building this spacecraft for
the Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes (RAVAN) project, which is led by the
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory (JHU/APL), with partners L-1
Standards and Technology, Inc. and Draper
Laboratory, and funded by NASA’s Earth Science
Technology Office.
BCT will integrate the RAVAN payload with the
XB1 Spacecraft Bus and perform environmental
testing of the complete spacecraft. BCT will also
provide launch integration services and operate
the spacecraft from its new Mission Operations
Center. BCT’s spacecraft, the XB1, is a highperformance CubeSat that includes an ultraprecise attitude control system that allows for
accurate knowledge and fine-pointing of the
satellite payload.
“BCT has created a low-cost, Complete Small
Spacecraft Solution that allows customers like APL to focus its resources on the mission science”, said
George Stafford, BCT president.
Figure 1: The BCT RAVAN Spacecraft
The objective of the RAVAN project is to
demonstrate a radiometer that is compact, low-cost, and low-uncertainty. The radiometer uses a
gallium fixed-point black body as a built-in calibration source and a vertically aligned carbon nanotube
(VACNT) absorber. VACNTs are the blackest known substance. Neither the VACNT nor gallium black
body has ever been used in an orbiting scientific instrument. Successful demonstration will pave the way
for a constellation Earth radiation budget mission that can provide valuable measurements needed to
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Blue Canyon Technologies
2425 55th St, Suite 200, BLDG A
Boulder, CO 80301
www.bluecanyontech.com
significantly advance our understanding of ongoing and future climate change. The RAVAN mission is
expected to launch in mid-2016.
The BCT XB1 spacecraft will be developed and operated at BCT’s new 18,000 square foot facility located
in Boulder, CO. BCT’s new office and lab space is designed specifically for high volume production of
spacecraft systems and components, with the manufacturing capability to handle large constellations of
small spacecraft.
About Blue Canyon Technologies
Blue Canyon Technologies, LLC is a privately-held business founded in 2008 to bring high-performance,
affordable solutions to space missions. The company is an innovative, experienced integrator of
aerospace systems and developer of advanced aerospace products and technologies. For the latest
news on Blue Canyon Technologies and for other company information, please visit
www.bluecanyontech.com.
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