Northrop Grumman Delivers Satellite Antennas For Detecting Nuclear Blasts

Carpinteria, CA -- Northrop Grumman Corporation has delivered all V-Sensor deployable antenna assemblies that will be used to detect nuclear blasts as an adjunct payload on the Global Positioning Satellite 2F program.

The company's Astro Aerospace unit completed manufacturing and testing this summer of six qualification units and 18 flight units of its V-Sensor deployable antenna assemblies and recently delivered them to its customer, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The "pop-up" antennas are an example of Astro Aerospace's Storable Tubular Extendible Member (STEM) product line, which can be stowed in compact packages for launch and then opened in orbit. About the size of a pack of cigarettes, these STEM antennas deploy to a length of almost seven feet. They permit detection of electromagnetic pulses as part of nuclear arms control.

These antenna assemblies will be integrated on the next generation of GPS satellites by prime contractor The Boeing Company. Astro Aerospace also produced antennas for GPS 2R for a similar application.

"Space deployable structures are critical technologies that are vital to the success of many national security programs," said Tom Romesser, vice president of technology development for Northrop Grumman Space Technology sector.

SOURCE: Northrop Grumman Corporation