DARPA Blackjack Satellites. Photo: DARPA
Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) has completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) validating its X-SAT Saturn-class bus design to support the Blackjack Program, the company announced Dec. 14. Blackjack is a
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program to leverage commercial Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) technology for a global high-speed network for the
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
In the CDR, which took place over a two-day period at its satellite constellation factory in Lafayette, Colorado, BCT demonstrated its X-SAT Saturn-class bus design, validating the design and capabilities of the system in support of the Blackjack program. The Saturn bus is the largest microsatellite bus that BCT offers.