PONY EXPRESS 1

Pony Express 1 is a dual-use payload that enables mesh networks in space through HiveStar™ and a second function that tests space-to-ground remote sensing. Lockheed Martin launched the Pony Express 1 mission as a hosted payload on Tyvak-0129, a next-generation Terran Orbital 6U spacecraft.​ Pony Express 1 will usher in a new era of space-based computing that will enable artificial intelligence, data analytics, cloud networking, and advanced satellite communications in a robust new software-defined architecture.

An example of rapid prototyping, Terran Orbital developed, built, and integrated Pony Express 1 in nine months. The spacecraft and its payload are funded completely by Lockheed Martin Research and Development.

Pony Express 1 validates payload hardware and software and is packed with new technology that fits into a satellite the size of a shoebox. Some of the key technologies being flight-tested include:​

• HiveStar software validates advanced adaptive mesh communications between satellites, and shared processing capabilities and can take advantage of sensors aboard other smart satellites to customize missions in new ways previously difficult to achieve in space.
• A software-defined radio that allows for high-bandwidth hosting of multiple RF applications, store-and-forward RF collection, data compression, digital signal processing, and waveform transmission.
• 3D-printed wideband antenna housing developed by Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Research Technology Center.

The second hosted payload, the Mini-Monolith, demonstrates a novel, small-diameter mono-telescope developed by Laurence Livermore National Labs.