BAE Systems' (formerly Ball Aerospace) standardized small-to-medium satellite bus family — successor to the flight-proven Ball Configurable Platform — offered in Summit, Trek, and Ascent variants for government and commercial missions.
Elevation Spacecraft Product Line
BAE Systems' (formerly Ball Aerospace) standardized small-to-medium satellite bus family — successor to the flight-proven Ball Configurable Platform — offered in Summit, Trek, and Ascent variants for government and commercial missions.
Description
The Elevation Spacecraft Product Line is BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems' (the former Ball Aerospace space business, acquired by BAE Systems in February 2024) standardized, modular spacecraft bus family. It carries forward the design heritage of Ball Aerospace's Ball Configurable Platform, a small satellite bus that used a common structure and standardized payload interfaces to reduce cost and delivery time. The BCP-100 class bus was built four times, including for NASA's Green Propellant Infusion Mission (built in 46 days) and NASA's Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer, and traces further heritage to STPSat-2 and STPSat-3. The rebranded Elevation line offers three standardized variants: Summit (up to 225 kg payload, 850 W orbit-average power, precision pointing, ideal for rideshare), Trek (up to 1,000 kg payload, up to 1,900 W orbit-average power, enhanced attitude determination for high-power/high-mass payloads), and Ascent (multi-payload hosting, high maneuverability and high-thrust propulsion, refuelability, rendezvous/proximity operations support). The line targets government and commercial customers needing affordable, mission-ready spacecraft platforms, drawing on over 70 years of aerospace heritage.
Specifications
| Summit variant payload capacity | Up to 225 kg |
|---|---|
| Summit variant power generation | 850 W orbit average |
| Trek variant payload capacity | Up to 1,000 kg |
| Trek variant power generation | Up to 1,900 W orbit average |
| Ascent variant features | Multi-payload hosting, high maneuverability, high-thrust propulsion, refuelability, rendezvous/proximity operations/docking support |
| Legacy bus name | Ball Configurable Platform (BCP), including BCP-100, BCP-Small, and BCP-Large variants |
| Flight heritage | STPSat-2 (2010), STPSat-3 (2013), GPIM (2019, BCP-100), IXPE (2021, 4th BCP-100 build); related Ball Aerospace instrument heritage includes TEMPO, GEMS, MethaneSAT, ICESat-2 (ATLAS instrument), SPHEREx |