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Air Force Research Laboratory Awards SpaceDev's Starsys Unit for Satellite Boom Structures |
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POWAY, Calif., April 5, 2006/Satnews Daily/ — The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate has awarded Starsys Inc., a SpaceDev Company (OTCBB: SPDV), two contracts totaling $2.45 million for continued development of deployable boom structures for satellites.
SpaceDev said both awards are Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts resulting from design and trade study work completed during Phase I SBIRs.
Mark Sirangelo, SpaceDev's CEO, said the results of this effort will provide a clear advantage in this very exciting sector of advanced spacecraft development and is highly synergistic with many of our future space programs and products.
Deployable booms are innovative mechanical systems that unfold from a spacecraft to form large stable structures used to position instruments and sensors. These systems enable the launch and deployment of large aperture sensors - in some cases using small spacecraft.
According to SpaceDev, the AFRL contracts focus on the design and development of flight experiments to validate innovative and enabling deployable space structures using several unique boom architectures. SpaceDev expects such deployable technologies to be commercialized and implemented on multiple programs.
Robert Vacek, president of Starsys, added the contract awards provide Starsys the opportunity to further advance its innovative deployable structures technology and provide a platform to demonstrate several mission-enabling technologies important to the Department of Defense, Civil, and Commercial markets.
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