Loft Federal has opened a new facility in Arvada, Colorado, to support the development and integration of US government space missions.
Loft Federal has opened a new facility in Arvada, Colorado, to support the development and integration of US government space missions.
The 5,574-square-meter (60,000-square-foot) Candelas Innovation site will be used for mission engineering, payload integration, software development, testing, and program management.
It will support defense, intelligence, and civil government customers.
Initial cleanroom capabilities are expected to become operational in October.
The company is also preparing three areas to comply with Intelligence Community Directive 705, which establishes physical and technical requirements for facilities handling classified information.
Other planned capabilities include secure software development environments, payload integration laboratories, mission-planning systems, autonomy testing, and facilities for supporting spacecraft operations.
National Security Missions
The site will support payload and software development for tactical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as missile warning and tracking missions.
It will also be used for autonomous spacecraft operations and secure payload management.
The facility will enable payload hardware and mission software to be developed, integrated, and tested in a single location before launch.
Government agencies and industry partners will also be able to use the site for joint engineering and program reviews.
Work will also include VAULT, Loft Federal’s onboard software framework for executing missions and autonomously processing data aboard a spacecraft without relying entirely on ground-based systems.
The system connects sensor data processing with tasking, scheduling, payload control, and the transfer of information to other spacecraft or operators.
It is designed to coordinate distributed satellites and hosted payloads across low, medium, and geostationary Earth orbits.
