The Saturn-200 minisatellite lifted off this week as part of NASA’s Pandora mission, which will examine the atmospheres of exoplanets and the behaviour of their host stars. The mission is designed to improve scientists’ understanding of the composition of distant worlds and their potential to support life.
Pandora will observe at least 20 exoplanets as they transit their host stars, a process in which a planet passes in front of a star, causing a slight dip in brightness. During these events, starlight passes through the planet’s atmosphere, where gases absorb and scatter specific wavelengths of light.
By analysing these changes, researchers can identify atmospheric components, with a particular focus on planets dominated by hydrogen or water vapour.
Blue Canyon Technologies, RTX’s small satellite manufacturing and mission services business, supplied the spacecraft platform for the mission. According to the company, Pandora carries the largest telescope payload ever integrated onto a Blue Canyon satellite.
Blue Canyon Technologies general manager Chris Winslett said the company’s Saturn Class spacecraft was designed to deliver the precision required for the mission.
“Our Saturn Class platform, equipped with advanced guidance, navigation and control systems, will provide the precise pointing and stability needed for this important scientific mission,” Winslett said.
Pandora is a NASA Science Mission Directorate program led by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and managed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In addition to building the satellite bus, Blue Canyon also supported launch vehicle integration and post-launch commissioning of the spacecraft.
The successful launch brings the total number of Blue Canyon-built spacecraft placed into orbit to 87, according to RTX.