-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueLevel Up Your Design Skills
This month, our contributors discuss the PCB design classes available at IPC APEX EXPO 2024. As they explain, these courses cover everything from the basics of design through avoiding over-constraining high-speed boards, and so much more!
Opportunities and Challenges
In this issue, our expert contributors discuss the many opportunities and challenges in the PCB design community, and what can be done to grow the numbers of PCB designers—and design instructors.
Embedded Design Techniques
Our expert contributors provide the knowledge this month that designers need to be aware of to make intelligent, educated decisions about embedded design. Many design and manufacturing hurdles can trip up designers who are new to this technology.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Northrop Grumman Completes Critical Design Review for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer
November 16, 2023 | Northrop GrummanEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Northrop Grumman Corporation recently completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) on a proliferated low-Earth orbit constellation of 16 missile tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency, clearing the way to begin production work on the space vehicles.
- The CDR maintained an accelerated pace and was completed within 13 months of the award announcement.
- The satellites are part of the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer (T1TRK) that will identify and track hypersonic weapons and advanced missiles from the earliest stages of launch through interception.
- Once in orbit, the satellites will operate in two of four low-Earth orbital planes, interconnected with Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) – another element of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) designed as a high-speed, high-volume data transport network connecting U.S. forces around the globe.
Expert:
Candace Givens, vice president, overhead persistent infrared and geospatial systems, Northrop Grumman: “We are developing a more responsive, flexible and resilient space architecture to counter sophisticated threats. By passing this critical milestone on an accelerated timeline, we are closer to delivering critical missile defense and tracking technologies.”
Details on the PWSA:
Fourteen of the satellites for T1TRK will feature a wide field-of-view sensor, three optical communications terminals and a Ka-band payload for communications. Two satellites will feature a medium field-of-view infrared sensor to demonstrate a fire-control solution.
Northrop Grumman is a leading contractor providing both space vehicles and ground systems for SDA’s PWSA, a next-generation constellation in low-Earth orbit. The company continues to leverage this growing industry base of capable suppliers to support this critical mission. PWSA has two major lines of effort:
- The Tracking Layer: Focused on developing a global constellation of infrared missile warning and missile tracking satellites that integrate with the Transport Layer’s low-latency meshed communication network, enabling conventional and advanced missile tracking from proliferated low-Earth orbit.
- The Transport Layer: Designed to provide low-latency, high-volume data connectivity supporting U.S. military missions around the world.
To date, SDA has awarded Northrop Grumman 132 satellites. In March, Northrop Grumman successfully completed a Critical Design Review for T1TL. In October, SDA awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to design and build 38 satellites as part of Tranche 2 Transport Layer – Alpha (T2TL-Alpha).
Suggested Items
First Two WorldView Legion Spacecraft Performing Well After Launch
05/03/2024 | BUSINESS WIREMaxar Intelligence, provider of secure, precise geospatial intelligence, today confirmed the first two WorldView Legion satellites are performing well after being launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket earlier today from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
Rocket Lab Successfully Deploys Satellites
04/24/2024 | BUSINESS WIRERocket Lab USA, Inc., a global leader in launch services and space systems, today deployed two satellites to two different orbits approximately 500km apart on its 47th Electron mission.
Airbus Continues to Collaborate with NASA to Monitor Climate Change from Space
03/22/2024 | AirbusAirbus has been awarded a contract to design and build the GRACE-C twin spacecraft by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL (Pasadena, California). This new mission of NASA and the German Space Agency at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) will strengthen the more than 20 year long partnership between the USA and Germany to ensure uninterrupted measurement of the Earth's gravity field, which started in 2002 with GRACE and continues with GRACE Follow-On, launched in 2018.
NEC, Skyloom to Pioneer 100 Gbps Space Optical Communications, Transforming Global Internet Connectivity
03/20/2024 | JCN NewswireNEC Corporation and Skyloom Global Corporation have joined forces to revolutionize space communications with the development of cutting-edge optical communication equipment for multi-orbit satellite networks.
Lockheed Martin’s Pony Express 2 Tech Demo Satellites Declared Ready For Launch
02/16/2024 | Lockheed MartinThe Lockheed Martin Pony Express 2 mission, intended to showcase how space can enhance Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), is ready for launch.