[Satellite Today 01-26-09] A team led by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman has sent its SpaceWire data bus technology forward for preliminary design review, Lockheed Martin announced Jan. 22. The development marks a milestone in the risk reduction phase of the U.S. Air Force‘s Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) constellation, the companies said.
    The SpaceWire bus technology, a self-managing serial protocol, provides on-orbit satellite internal communications for box-to-box and system-to-system data transfer that is equivalent to a local area network = in space. The unit also has the capability to assist the in-flight processor by offloading repetitive tasks to the embedded SpaceWire processor and reduce cabling by providing the capability to combine many different kinds of signals onto two single conductor pairs.
    The Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman TSAT space segment team is currently working under a $739 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense for the risk reduction and system definition phase. A team led by Boeing Co. is also competing for the multi-billion dollar development contract to be awarded to a single contractor in 2010.