Trident Systems Selected by Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation has selected Trident Systems, Inc. to provide processing and storage electronics for 14 of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer satellites.

Under this subcontract, Trident will deliver developmental and flight units in support of the payload, which is designed to track missiles and other hypersonic objects from low earth orbit.

“Our products are well suited for this type of payload and are available on SDA’s rapid timelines” said Dan Hibbard, VP of Trident’s Space Electronics Systems business unit. “This competitive selection highlights our continued growth, especially in the area of higher rate manufacturing of our products.“

The program selection comes at a time when Trident is expanding to a new production facility, scheduled to open in mid-2023 in the Northern Virginia area.

The units for the Tracking Layer satellites will be based on Trident’s line of UDRT On-Board Processors (OBPs) providing real-time compression, combined with a storage solution. Packaged in a SWaP-optimized 3U VPX chassis, the unit-level solution is a radiation effects mitigated design, reprogrammable on-orbit, and employs features to specifically address cybersecurity.

“Northrop Grumman has been a great customer to work with, and we’re excited to support them on this program,” said Hibbard. “We look forward to supporting this Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture program and others in the future.“