The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency launched four low-Earth orbit technology demonstration satellites on June 12. The satellites flew into orbit with the shared SpaceX Transporter-8. As Spacenews.com reports, these are part of the agency’s Blackjack experiment launched in 2017 to prove the usefulness of commercial space technology for military applications.

Blackjack, once conceived as an array of 20 satellites with different payload types, has been scaled down and will deploy only four spacecraft. DARPA’s vision for Project Blackjack in 2017 – to show the Pentagon how it can benefit from the commercial space revolution – has been shaken by events, as the US space agency is already ready to deploy LEO constellations for the Department of Defense.

Blackjack’s initial launch was scheduled for 2021, but the schedule continued to be pushed to the right due to supply chain issues. Blackjack program manager Stephen Forbes confirmed that DARPA does not expect to add additional satellites to the experiment beyond the four satellites launched Monday.

“This is our only Blackjack launch currently planned,” he said in a statement. Space News. “Satellites will be in service for a few months, then orbit will be upgraded, and then interoperability demonstrations involving distributed satellite architectures will begin,” Forbes said.

Blue Canyon buses, SEAKR and CACI loads

Four identical Blackjack satellites were built on Saturn-class commercial buses manufactured by Blue Canyon, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. In 2020, DARPA awarded Blue Canyon Technologies a $14.1 million contract to build four satellites. The contract included a $99 million option for 20 satellites. Small satellite buses of the Saturn class can carry payloads of up to 200 kilograms.

Each Blackjack satellite carries a Pit Boss data processing node and a Storm King RF payload, also manufactured by SEAKR Engineering, a subsidiary of Raytheon. Each satellite has four laser communication terminals provided by CACI.

“The goal is to demonstrate the same low Earth orbit performance as existing systems in geosynchronous orbit, with a payload that meets the size, weight, and power constraints of a commercial bus,” Forbes said. Said.