Small satellites help Blue Canyon Technologies soar

The success trail for Blue Canyon Technologies sounds something like the chicken-and-egg story, with technology playing the part of the chicken. Or maybe it’s the part of the egg. That’s the twist, right?

Ten years ago, the technology that currently drives Blue Canyon wasn’t around. The reason the company is doing so well today is because companies that use Blue Canyon’s products exist — and, of course, those companies wouldn’t exist if Blue Canyon’s technology wasn’t available.

You get the idea.

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The nanosatellite area of business didn’t exist 10 years ago because there wasn’t a good way to launch spacecraft other than by using big payload systems. One of the problems with big payloads, unfortunately, was the cost, which caused research-and-development engineers to focus on coming up with a better idea.

That’s when Blue Canyon found its niche.

“As this market has evolved, the market for launching smaller satellites is growing, and we’re enabling it to grow,” Stafford said. “We make smaller spacecraft be able to do things that larger spacecraft used to do.”

When compared with traditional satellites, nanosatellites retain similar capabilities that were initially associated only with big payloads, but with one particular advantage: They cost less.

Stafford described the difference as actually a fraction of the cost.  “It can be a hundredth of the price,” he said.

When Blue Canyon Technologies kicked off, it was mimicking the work that larger companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing were doing. Stafford’s background included working at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., so he knew the industry.

“Originally, we weren’t sold on the nano market,” he said, “so we started developing satellites that were larger than the ones we do now.”

Along the way, customers helped them make the mental shift.

“It took about two years for us to change our focus and go into this market,” he said. “Large organizations dominated this field for decades, and there was little opportunity for small companies to exist, but since 2008, we’ve been developing these technologies. Small companies like us are able to be agile and innovative.”

It’s a big plus when you’re in the space-technology market.

Being a small, edgy aerospace company comes with its own set of challenges. Right now it’s just trying to keep up with growth, having grown from 18 employees to 52 in just 1½

years.

“Our revenue has doubled every year for the past three years,” Stafford said, “and it’s a challenge to keep up with that kind of growth and all the new opportunities.”

Finding employees who are the right fit add to the challenge. The right skill set combined with a culture match are at the top of Stafford’s list when hiring.

The culture is as expected for a company that’s playing a big part in the technological development of the new space industry: fast and innovative.