Northrop Grumman : Astro Aerospace Completes NISAR Reflector Critical Design Review (CDR)

CARPINTERIA, Calif. - Jan. 29, 2018 - Astro Aerospace, a Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) business, recently completed a successful Critical Design Review (CDR) of the AstroMesh® radar antenna reflector for the NASA-Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite.

NISAR will make global integrated measurements, providing a detailed view of Earth. NISAR's radar imaging satellite will use dual L-Band and S-Band frequencies to measure the causes and consequences of land surface changes. The data collected will provide information to better manage resources and global change. NISAR is a partnership between NASA and the ISRO. NASA's contribution to NISAR is being managed and implemented by the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. 

The completion of the CDR is a significant achievement in the development of the NISAR reflector. Post CDR, the program will move into the 'build' phase of the AstroMesh® radar antenna reflector in preparation for the scheduled 2021 launch date. Northrop Grumman will use its proprietary AstroMesh® deployable mesh reflector for NISAR's large aperture antenna, building an ultralight and extremely stiff reflector that is ideally suited for high frequency communications and radar applications. The AstroMesh® performance record is unmatched with its reflectors deploying successfully on-orbit without incident or failure.

'We are very proud to support NASA and the NISAR program on this important Earth science program,' said Michael Cross, general manager, Astro Aerospace, Northrop Grumman. 'Successful achievement of this design maturity milestone is a great example of the strong partnership with the NASA JPL team.'

Northrop Grumman also supplied the 6-meter AstroMesh® antenna for NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, the largest spinning reflector ever created. 

Astro Aerospace is a leading pioneer of space deployable technology and structures that have enabled critical complex missions to Earth's orbit, Mars and beyond. Astro Aerospace's hardware is characterized by its light weight structural design and robust deployment kinematics. Since 1958, Astro Aerospace has successfully deployed technology on hundreds of space flights with a 100 percent success rate, a testament to Northrop Grumman's commitment to reliability, quality and affordability. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com/astro for more information.

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