BOULDER, CO — Small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) has been selected by Made In Space, Inc. to support the development of the spacecraft platform for the company’s upcoming Archinaut One mission.

BCT, a private company founded in 2008 to bring innovative, reliable and affordable solutions to space missions, is an experienced integrator of aerospace systems and developer of advanced aerospace products and technologies. BCT is a vertically integrated spacecraft manufacturer supporting nearly 40 unique missions with over 70 spacecraft.

The flight demonstration mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than 2022, will demonstrate how robotic manufacturing and assembly can enable entirely new structures and assemblies on orbit. The objective of the Archinaut One mission is to construct two ten-meter solar arrays, on orbit, to power an ESPA-class satellite. Once on orbit, Archinaut One will employ its extended structure additive manufacturing capabilities and advanced robotics to manufacture and assemble the satellite’s power system. The Archinaut-created solar arrays will yield nearly 5x the power currently available to ESPA-class satellites.

“The implications of our ability to conduct 3D printing in space are endless and we’re proud to partner with Made In Space to make this mission a reality,” says George Stafford, founder and CEO of Blue Canyon Technologies. “More and more we’re finding that our spacecraft bus capabilities are enabling increasingly innovative technologies, changing the new space frontier and how we can leverage it.”

Blue Canyon’s diverse spacecraft platforms have enabled a broad range of missions and technological advances for the New Space economy, further reducing the barriers of space entry. BCT is currently building more than 60 spacecraft for government, commercial and academic missions. The company has doubled in size over the past 12 months and plans to open its new 80,000-square-foot headquarters and production facility in 2020.

In 2019, Made In Space was awarded a $73.7 million contract to develop Archinaut One as part of NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions program within the Space Technology Mission Directorate.