TSAT’s TESTING IS TWO THUMBS UP FOR BOEING + IBM

The advanced electronics that’ll be incorporated into the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) has been demo’d by The Boeing Company and their TEAM TSAT industry partners. Tests of the TSAT’s ASIC demo’d the microchip’s functionality and suitability for spaceflight by going through the most challenging test of all—the radio environment. The tests simulated the harsh environment of space with a cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator that accelerates electrons using a high-frequency alternating charge. These successful risk-reduction tests are the result of more than 10 years of partnership between Boeing and IBM. The TSAT ASIC chip is the 4G of IBM terrestrial ASIC technology qualified for space use. The first appeared in 2001 in a Boeing-built, satellite-based, mobile communications system. TEAM TSAT used ASIC chip designs that represent the most challenging functions required of TSAT. Boeing’s TEAM TSAT consists of Cisco Systems, Hughes, IBM, Harris Corp., Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., LGS Innovations, Raytheon, General Dynamics C4 Systems, L-3 Communications, BBN Technologies, EMS Technologies, SAIC and Innovative Communications Engineering. The team submitted its TSAT Space Segment proposal to the Air Force on July 30, 2007. The Air Force is expected to announce the winner of the multibillion-dollar contract later this year—St. Louis, Missouri