Jane Edwards
Thales Alenia Space’s ELiTeBUS 1000 satellite system has been added by the rapid spacecraft development office to the Rapid III catalog managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The satellite platform’s inclusion in the catalog would allow the joint venture of Thales and Leonardo-Finmeccanica to respond to future request for proposals for platforms and services under the Rapid III contract, Thales Alenia Space said Monday.
RSDO works to facilitate the procurement of spacecraft and related components through indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price contracts that include the Rapid III contract.
The Rapid III contract covers payload testing and integration services, spacecraft construction and testing assistance, on-orbit checkout and acceptance, as well as support services for launch site and early orbit operations.
ELiTeBUS 1000 has been developed in France and is based on the Proteus platform that supported astronomy, optical, altimetry and radar missions.
The satellite system is designed to carry up to 12 satellites into low- and medium-Earth orbits and works with various types of rockets such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5.
The ELiTeBUS 1000 satellite has a 361-pound hydrazine tank, avionic architecture equipped with LEON 3 processor and a propulsion system that runs on nine catalyst thrusters.
