Blue Canyon Technologies LLC (“BCT” or “Blue Canyon”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, has been selected to provide 18 cubesats for The Tomorrow Companies Inc. (“Tomorrow.io”) microwave sounding mission.
In the company’s largest constellation delivery to date, Blue Canyon will provide 18, integrated cubesats and payload elements, support payload integration, conduct integrated space vehicle tests, including environmental testing, and provide pre-launch mission operations services. The company has successfully launched 44 spacecraft and more than 1,300 components since the firm’s inception.
The Tomorrow.io microwave sounder payload leverages the heritage of NASA’s TROPICS program by using MIT Lincoln Laboratory‘s, next generation, Microwave Sounder Instrument that collects temperature, water vapor, precipitation, and cloud ice measurements to study storms and other meteorological events. This constellation of passive microwave sounders will complement Tomorrow.io’s constellation of weather radar satellites.
The combination of radar and microwave sounding data leans on the long heritage of NASA’s Global Precipitation Mission and is expected to significantly improve real-time situational awareness, short-term nowcasts, medium-term forecasts, and climate studies.
These smallsats will be designed, built and tested in the company’s new CubeSat Factory, which opened in Boulder, Colorado, on August 3, 2022. Once in production, BCT will deliver two space vehicles per month.
“Our cubesat and components teams are looking forward to building at a larger scale, in a new facility, with improved payload interfaces and standardized designs,” said John Carvo, Executive Director of CubeSats at Blue Canyon Technologies. “Raytheon Technologies’ continued investment has allowed us to increase inventory and acquire new testing equipment and facilities, so we can continue providing innovative products and the agility to move quickly to ensure rapid delivery to our customers.”
Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT), a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, is comprised of four business units: CubeSats, Microsats, Components, and Mission Operations. BCT offers a diverse portfolio of innovative, reliable, and affordable spacecraft and components that enable a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the new space economy. The company currently supports numerous unique missions with more than 100 cumulative spacecraft orders. Microsatellites are manufactured at the 80,000 sq-ft Lafayette facility and CubeSats and components are manufactured in 40,000 sq-ft of dedicated facilities in Boulder, Colorado. BCT has supported missions for the U.S. Air Force, NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and provided the Attitude Control Systems for the first interplanetary CubeSats, which successfully traveled to Mars. The company has been recognized with awards from Inc. Magazine’s 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies, the Best in Biz Award and the 2020 Tibbetts Award.
Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies business, delivers the disruptive technologies our customers need to succeed in any domain, against any challenge. A developer of advanced sensors, cyber services and software solutions, Raytheon Intelligence & Space provides a decisive advantage to civil, military and commercial customers around the world. About Tomorrow.io
Tomorrow.io is “The World’s Weather and Climate Security Platform, helping countries, businesses, and individuals manage their weather and climate security challenges. The platform is fully customizable to any industry impacted by the weather. Customers around the world, including Uber, Delta, Ford, National Grid, and more use Tomorrow.io to dramatically improve operational efficiency. Tomorrow.io was built from the ground up to help teams prepare for the business impact of weather by automating decision-making and enabling climate adaptation at scale.