Terran Orbital Corporation, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, is a leading manufacturer of satellite products primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries. The company provides end-to-end satellite solutions by combining satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and on-orbit support.
Terran Orbital has recently introduced a new lineup of seven standard satellite bus platforms for 2024 and beyond. Ranging from the 6U Triumph nano-satellite to the large Enterprise platform, these buses feature modular designs with interchangeable components and can be configured for a wide variety of mission requirements across civil, commercial, and defense sectors.
Product Models
Terran Orbital offers seven different ITAR-compliant satellite bus platforms across the nano, micro, mini, and small satellite classes:
- Enterprise – The largest bus for flat packing up to 24 vehicles per launch. Comes with optical inter-satellite links (OISLs) and optimized for communications payloads.
- Ambassador – Rideshare bus compatible with ESPA-Grande interface. Tailored for defense/intelligence community with large payload capacity and encryption.
- Nebula – Commercial version of the Space Development Agency Tranche 0 Transport Layer bus. 15″ or 24″ ESPA compatible with optional encryption.
- Excelsior – Entry-level microsatellite platform and baseline for efficient constellation builds.
- Voyager – Deep space 16U bus for beyond LEO missions with radiation tolerance and deep space comms.
- Renegade – ESPA-class bus tailored for remote sensing applications.
- Triumph – Smallest 6U nanosat platform with 5 kg payload capacity.
The buses feature modular designs with common components and building blocks that can be swapped to enable flexible configurations across different mission requirements and customer needs.
Interchangeable Components Enable Flexible Configurations
A key advantage of Terran Orbital’s buses is their flexibility enabled by the use of interchangeable modules and components. By utilizing common building blocks in the form of standardized components and modules, the buses can be adapted to create different configurations. Components such as batteries, solar arrays, propulsion systems, and avionics can be swapped in and out depending on the bus size and mission needs.
Diverse Mission Applications Across Sectors
The interchangeable nature of the buses makes them suitable for diverse applications across commercial, civil, and defense sectors.
For scientific research missions, the Voyager bus is built to withstand harsh environments beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with redundant components and deep space communications capabilities. The Nebula bus used for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 Transport Layer demonstrates the configurability for specialized research constellations.
In the national defense domain, Terran Orbital touts the high-power Ambassador bus compatible with the ESPA-Grande interface as an ideal platform for the defense and intelligence community. The company is a major provider for Lockheed Martin’s critical satellite infrastructure programs for the Space Development Agency.
For commercial applications, the buses can be optimized for missions ranging from communications to Earth observation and remote sensing. Flexible configurations allow cost-effective solutions even for large constellations like the planned NextGen Earth Observation Constellation under development by Terran Orbital.
Streamlined Manufacturing Processes
Underpinning the responsive and modular buses is Terran Orbital’s advanced satellite manufacturing capabilities. Their state-of-the-art factory employs automation, robotics and streamlined processes to accelerate production.
By standardizing components across platforms, maintaining interchangeable spares inventory, and maximizing reuse, the manufacturing and integration times can be significantly reduced. The company has set an ambitious Responsive Space Initiative to deliver satellite buses in 30 days and complete satellites in 60 days by 2024 end.
Advantages to Using Terran Orbital Satellite Bus Platforms
There are several key advantages to using Terran Orbital’s satellite bus platforms for space missions:
- Modular and reconfigurable design: The buses feature interchangeable modules and components that can be swapped out to accommodate different sizes and mission requirements. This flexibility allows customization for specific needs.
- Standardized components: Common building blocks in the form of standardized components and modules enable responsive manufacturing. This reduces costs and delivery times.
- Flight heritage: The buses leverage extensive flight heritage from previous missions, providing proven reliability.
- Diverse applications: Configurability of the buses makes them suitable for a wide range of civil, commercial and defense applications including communications, Earth observation, research missions etc.
- Manufacturing infrastructure: Investments in automation, robotics and streamlined processes allow high quality production at scale. The company aims to deliver satellites in 30-60 days.
- Cost effectiveness: Modular architecture and flexibility create cost-effective solutions tailored for small satellites and constellations.
Summary
With the latest lineup spanning satellite form factors from nano to mini and even small spacecraft classes, Terran Orbital offers flexible and reconfigurable satellite buses suitable for diverse customer needs across commercial, civil and national security space sectors.
By emphasizing modular design and investments in responsive manufacturing infrastructure, the company is positioned to deliver high quality satellites at scale and become a leader in next-generation space technology innovation.
