• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • News
  • Featured
  • More News ⌄
    • SatNews
    • SatMagazine
    • MilSatMagazine
  • Events ⌄
    • MilSat Symposium
    • SmallSat Symposium
    • Satellite Innovation
  • Contacts
  • SUBSCRIPTION

SmallSat News

You are here: Home / News / Terran Orbital completes NASA Pathfinder Tech Demo 3 bus commissioning less than a week post launch

Terran Orbital completes NASA Pathfinder Tech Demo 3 bus commissioning less than a week post launch

July 6, 2022 by editorial

NASA Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3 transmits telemetry and receives commands from Earth along radio frequency bands Image is courtesy of Terran Orbital Corporation.

Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) has announced that the company’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3 (PTD-3) satellite has completed bus commissioning with all health and status checkouts nominal.

Terran Orbital designed and built the PTD-3 satellite in support of NASA’s PTD series of missions. The missions will test the operation of a variety of novel small satellite technologies in LEO while providing significant enhancements to performance. The successful demonstration of new subsystem technologies throughout multiple planned PTD missions will increase small spacecraft capabilities to enable future exploration missions and science.

PTD-3 carries the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) payload developed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MITLL) and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Funding for the TBIRD technology payload is provided by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program in the Space Operations Mission Directorate.

NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s (STMD) Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) program provides funding for the spacecraft, payload integration, mission operations, and launch.

The PTD-3 spacecraft will demonstrate a space-to-ground data transfer capability at orders of magnitude faster than previously demonstrated technologies – opening doors to large volume data communications and data accessibility for advanced space exploration while delivering multiple terabytes of data per day to a single ground station.

The PTD series of missions each use a commercial spacecraft bus and avionics developed by Terran Orbital. This spacecraft platform easily accommodates a variety of mission payloads, while leveraging the production efficiency and flight heritage of a proven satellite bus. Terran Orbital also serves as the payload integrator for the PTD missions and performs on-orbit mission operations from the Terran Orbital Mission Operations Center in Irvine, California.

“Terran Orbital is extremely proud PTD-3 bus commissioning was completed mere days after reaching orbit,” said Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Marc Bell. “The technologies featured in PTD-3 will greatly benefit the ways we measure and observe activity on Earth and how we communicate that data. Creating the technology and satellite capabilities that fuel NASA’s PTD missions is an absolute privilege. Terran Orbital looks forward to continuing our on-orbit operations of PTD-3 and designing, building, integrating, and operating the additional upcoming PTD satellites.”

Terran Orbital is a leading manufacturer of small satellites primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries. Terran Orbital provides end-to-end satellite solutions by combining satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and on-orbit support to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civil, and commercial customers. Learn more at www.terranorbital.com.

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019

© 2019–2023 SatNews

x
Sign Up Now!

Enjoy a free weekly newsletter with recent headlines from the global SmallSat industry.

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing! You will now receive weekly SmallSat News updates.
We love our advertisers.
And you will too!

Please disable Ad Blocker to continue... We promise to keep it unobtrusive.
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address
Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions.