[Satellite TODAY 08-07-13] The 702 Small Platform (702SP), Boeing’s first electric-powered satellite, has passed its critical design review, allowing the new program to move two satellites into assembly, integration and testing. The company is on schedule to launch the first two 702SP satellites in the first quarter of 2015 on a Falcon 9 rocket.

    The 3- to 8-kilowatt 702SP was introduced to Boeing’s 702 product line in March 2012 as a simpler design that can be built more quickly, while costing and weighing less than traditional satellites. Its all-electric propulsion minimizes the spacecraft’s mass and maximizes available payload.