Terran Orbital offers new Geo-satellite
March 18, 2024
By Chris Forrester
Terran Orbital is using the Washington DC 2024 Satellite show to debut its latest craft, a next-generation ‘SmallSat’ which aims to provide higher network performance in the sat-coms market but on a much smaller scale which is cheaper to build and launch.
Terran Orbital says the very much smaller (than usual) satellite will be adaptable to commercial/customer-provided or Terran Orbital-supplied payloads, up to 300 kilograms It also allows for steerable multi-beam arrays. The company says its “affordable” small satellite GEO solutions will have a shorter lead time compared to traditional options.
The company says the geosynchronous market is moving more towards small satellites with more and more GEO spacecraft ordered in the small size class. Terran Orbital is leveraging its investment in a 94,000 sq ft advanced manufacturing facility with automation in build and test, as well as three previous GEO missions, to expand into this market.
Terran orbital will showcase its new development at the show this week.
“Our customers require agility, affordability, and the ability to adapt their geosynchronous communication architecture. We can bring our LEO small satellite heritage to GEO and provide the agile customization that our customers have come to expect and value,” said Marc Bell, CEO of Terran Orbital.