ESA taps Curtiss-Wright for COTS-based telemetry on Vega-C launcher
NewsFebruary 09, 2017
PARIS. The European Space Agency (ESA) has chosen Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions (Ashburn, Virginia) to provide its radiation-tolerant Smart Backplane chassis for its new Vega-C launcher. Under the contract, Curtiss-Wright will provide Vega-C prime contractor ELV with a full telemetry system, which will handle data-acquisition, data-handling, and radio-frequency transmission capabilities.
ESA is designing the midsized Vega-C to deliver government, commercial, and science payloads weighing three tons or less -- such as small satellite constellations -- to low-earth orbit. The Curtiss-Wright/Vega-C development contract, which runs from January 2017 until the Vega-C's first launch in June 2019, is estimated at $5 million; the subsequent production phase is estimated at more than $10 million over the lifetime of the program.
The Vega-C rocket will be launched from the ESA's primary spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
