The SpaceDev Trailblazer Satellite: Opening a New Era of Responsive Space

SpaceDev's Trailblazer microsatellite was selected to fly on a Falcon booster in the first Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) "Jumpstart" mission, intended to demonstrate rapid integration, test, and launch of a spacecraft. "Jumpstart" was a multi-pronged effort to fly responsive payloads on the SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 003 mission, which launched in August 2008 from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The spacecraft was assembled and tested at SpaceDev's Poway, California facility. The rapid call-up time on this mission presented a number of difficult technical problems; including the absence of several critical long-lead items, a late flight radio change, a late requirement for encryption, lack of a ground station and mission operations center, and lack of any mission operations procedures. The SpaceDev Trailblazer team adopted an extremely aggressive "skunk works" approach that used a small, empowered, multi-disciplined team to meet difficult technical and schedule challenges. The SpaceDev team was able to demonstrate unusual flexibility and responsiveness by tailoring engineering processes to meet the demanding schedule. This paper will detail some of the many technical and programmatic challenges of this fast-paced program, and will discuss how SpaceDev was able to ultimately deliver a fully-functional spacecraft in just four months.(12)