DOD’s STPSat 5 Satellite from SNC Passes Critical Design Review

SNC Rendering of STPSat 5. Photo: SNC

[Via Satellite 12-09-2015] Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has successfully completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) of its STPSat 5 satellite for the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) Space Test Program (STP), confirming that the satellite will meet mission requirements and is sufficiently mature to begin fabrication. Administered by NASA’s Ames Research Center for the DOD STP office, STPSat 5 carries payloads provided by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the Naval Research Laboratory and Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Research Laboratory. SNC is the prime contractor on STPSat 5, a science and technology demonstration satellite carrying five space experiments for the DOD.

STPSat 5 is the first satellite to use SNC’s SN-50 microsatellite bus, which features a modular design and a green propulsion system. SNC has already secured more than 75 percent of the hardware needed to manufacture the satellite and has recently begun integration of several key engineering models, including the spacecraft avionics.

“Completion of CDR for STPSat 5 supports the Space Test Program’s charter to rapidly mature spaceflight opportunities for space experiments that provide high value to the Department of Defense,” said Colonel Jason Cothern, Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Advanced Systems and Development Directorate. “We look forward to moving into integration and test of this spacecraft in preparation for a 2017 launch.”