Atlas Space Operations, a Traverse City-based provider of ground-based satellite communications services, was chosen by Blue Origin in Kent, Wash., to give ground support for its upcoming DarkSky-1 mission.
Blue Origin was started by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The DarkSky-1 mission is to “build a road to space and enable millions of people to live and work in space for the benefit of Earth” by providing end-to-end hosting, transportation, refueling, data relay, and logistics services in medium earth orbits, geostationary orbits, lunar orbits, and beyond.
The DarkSky-1 mission is meant to demonstrate flight systems, including space-based processing capabilities, telemetry, tracking and command hardware, and ground-based radiometric tracking.
To meet the radio frequency (RF) requirements of this and future cislunar and lunar Blue Ring missions, Atlas will use several of its seven-meter antennas across the world.
“There is no margin for error when supporting a mission such as DarkSky-1,” says Paige Cooley, director of commercial solutions for Atlas. “In addition to meeting link budget requirements and offering broad geographic coverage, we emphasize extensive mission assurance measures in our solution through Atlas-in-a-box (AIB) testing during the integration process. We’re honored that Blue Origin has entrusted us with such a vital role in the success of this endeavor.”
AIB testing is the culmination of Atlas’ integration process involving establishing RF communication with a customer’s satellite or high-fidelity emulator on the ground. The result of this testing should be communication compatibility between the spacecraft and the ground station weeks to months before the spacecraft launches.
“Blue Ring’s collaboration with ATLAS’ hybrid space architecture will demonstrate enhanced space mobility and operations for commercial, civil, and national security customers,” says Paul Ebertz, senior vice president of in-space systems at Blue Origin. “Together, these advanced systems represent a leap forward in ensuring reliable, adaptable, and efficient access to space for a broad range of missions.”
