Jane Edwards
Maxar Technologies’ SSL subsidiary has secured a contract from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to design and develop a critical system for a spacecraft designed to explore Jupiter’s Europa moon through investigative flybys.
SSL said Tuesday it will build a critical interface – Remote Engineering Unit – for the Europa Clipper spacecraft that is slated for launch in the 2020s.
The Remote Engineering Unit will serve as an interface between the space vehicle’s flight computer, thermal sensors and attitude control systems and will feature radiation-tolerant components to support future deep space exploration missions.
Richard White, president SSL’s government systems business, said the company’s work on the Europa Clipper program continues its legacy in support of the space agency and JPL and helps meet its goal to build technologies that seek to advance human spaceflight missions.
SSL works with NASA on several deep space exploration projects that include the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway and the NASA Discovery program that aims to study the metal asteroid Psyche.
