Orbital Test Bed (OTB) Satellite
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems
OTB is a flexible, modular, low-cost hosted-payload smallsat platform built by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems to launch and operate multiple technology-demonstration payloads simultaneously on a single spacecraft.
Technical specifications
- Mass
- 139 kg
- Dimensions (stowed)
- 609 x 629 x 980 mm
- Dimensions (deployed)
- 1442 x 2462 x 975 mm
- Orbit average power
- 150 W
- Orbit
- 720 km circular altitude, 24° inclination
- Launch date
- June 25, 2019, U.S. Air Force STP-2 mission, SpaceX Falcon Heavy
- Payload adapter
- ESPA ring
- Hosted payloads
- Deep Space Atomic Clock, Modular Solar Array, iMESA-R, RadMon, FlexRX programmable receiver, Celestis memorial payloads
- Flight heritage
- OTB-1 launched June 2019; completed full scheduled five-year mission in 2024 and entered an estimated two-decade deorbit phase
About
The Orbital Test Bed satellite, built by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, offers an innovative, cost-efficient design for the simultaneous launch of multiple demonstration payloads to validate new space technologies on-orbit. The platform features a flexible, modular, and scalable architecture optimized for high-performance missions in Low Earth Orbit and a broad range of payload types, enabling government, commercial, and academic customers to space-qualify new technology and gain flight heritage without procuring a costly dedicated launch. The first OTB satellite launched in June 2019 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket as part of the U.S. Air Force Space Technology Program (STP-2) mission from Kennedy Space Center, riding on an ESPA ring adapter into a 720 km circular orbit at 24° inclination. OTB-1 hosted several payloads including NASA JPL’s Deep Space Atomic Clock, an AFRL-developed Modular Solar Array, the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Integrated Miniaturized Electrostatic Analyzer, the RadMon radiation effects monitor, and the FlexRX programmable satellite receiver. OTB-1 successfully completed its scheduled five-year mission and began its estimated two-decade deorbit phase. GA-EMS has since expanded the platform concept into its GA-75, GA-150, and GA-500 configurable ESPA-class satellite bus family for LEO through cislunar and xGEO missions.
Documentation
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