Northrop Grumman Corp. of Redondo Beach, Calif., is developing a wireless spacecraft bus for the Air Force that could lead to less expensive and lighter satellites. The radiation hardened bus serves as an electrical interface between on board equipment and payloads.
It will cut the “extensive touch labor, risks and complexities that are associated with integrating heavy, copper wire harnesses,” notes John Brock, a Northrop executive. He adds that the wireless device will complement the Air Force Research Laboratory’s own electronics architecture that is called space plug-n-play avionics, or SPA.
SPA permits automatic system recognition, fault detection and equipment removal not requiring software or database changes.