[Satellite TODAY 10-23-09] Mitsubishi Electric Corp. has received a $66 million contract from Orbital Sciences Corp. to supply proximity link system (PLS) components to Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft in order to guide it to the International Space Station (ISS) during nine NASA resupply missions, Mitsubishi announced Oct. 22.

    Mitsubishi Electric will deliver the PLS components to Orbital between 2010 and 2014. The deal is of the largest contracts tying a Japanese company to NASA’s space exploration program.

    The PLS components originally were developed for JAXA’s H-2 transfer vehicle, which docked with the ISS in Septermber.

     Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft is in development under a Commercial Orbital Transportation  Services (COTS) Space Act agreement with NASA. A demonstration flight is scheduled to launch in 2011 for a commercial cargo delivery system to ISS, following the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2010. Eight subsequent missions will transport cargo to the ISS between 2011 and 2015 under Orbital’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. 

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