[Satnews] The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced their selection of Astro Aerospace, a Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) company, to design and manufacture the radar antenna for its NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite.

Artistic rendition of NASA NISAR satellite.

Image is courtesy of NASA.

NISAR will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual L- and S-band frequencies, providing an unprecedented, detailed view of Earth. NISAR is designed to observe some of the planet's most complex processes, including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet dynamics, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides. Data collected from NISAR will reveal information about the evolution and state of the Earth's crust, help scientists better understand our planet's processes and changing climate, and aid future resource and hazard management. The mission is a partnership between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

With 100 percent on orbit success since 1958, Astro Aerospace brings unmatched expertise in space hardware and deployable structures to NISAR. Astro Aerospace will use its proprietary AstroMesh® deployable mesh reflector for NISAR's 12-meter aperture antenna, building an ultralight and extremely stiff reflector that is ideally suited for high frequency communications and radar applications.

This program award follows the very successful deployment and spin up of JPL's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, launched January 31, 2015. Astro supplied the 6 meter antenna for SMAP, the largest spinning reflector ever created.

Since 1958, Astro Aerospace has helped enable complex missions to Earth orbit, Mars and beyond with its innovative deployable space structures and mechanisms. The business unit's products have been successfully deployed on hundreds of space flights with a 100 percent success rate, a testament to Northrop Grumman's commitment to reliability, quality and affordability.