Excelsior
Terran Orbital
Entry-level ESPA-class microsatellite bus enabling two spacecraft per single 15-inch ESPA port for efficient constellation build-out.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Mass
- 125 kg
- Payload capacity
- 50 kg
- Power
- 500 W
- Data rate
- 0.125 Mbps
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Configuration
- Half-ESPA
- Applications
- LEO
- Native orbits
- 400 km - 1200 km
- Launch mass (Wet, max)
- Up to 125 kg
- Available payload mass
- 50 kg
- Max solar array power
- 500 W (3rd-party solar array included)
- Redundancy
- Single-string
- Power system
- 66 V system power; 28 V, 12 V, and 9 V rails available
- Communication data rate
- S-band: 125 Kbps uplink, 2 Mbps downlink; X-band: 650 Mbps downlink
- Propulsion
- 400s ISP standard
- Pointing accuracy
- 10 to 50 arcseconds, higher accuracy available
About
Excelsior shares a common EPS architecture with the larger spacecraft in the product line while providing redundancy in key components. The Excelsior allows maximum payload volume and a large solar array while providing low launch costs, giving it a power advantage over the nano platforms. It includes a propulsion bay accommodating electric propulsion, hydrazine, or a mix of propulsion systems.
Key benefits: build out constellations faster with the ability to launch two satellites per ESPA port; delivers a higher power-to-payload ratio than nano-class platforms; based on hardware with significant flight heritage.
Baseline modules included: Watchdog Backplane, Flight Computers (2), 66V Battery Modules (2-4), 66V MPPT (1-2), 66V Load Controller, 28V Low-power Point-of-Load (varies), 28V High-power Point-of-Load (varies), Coarse Sensors (2), Gyro Assembly, Star Trackers (3), GPS (2), Magnetorquers (3), Reaction Wheels (3), LDRR (2), MDR (2).
Documentation
Need the full ICD, test reports or a specific revision? Ask the supplier directly.