Bothell, Wash.-based Tethers Unlimited says it has completed an on-time delivery of 15 S-band software-defined radios in support of a small-satellite constellation mission being developed by Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing subsidiary.
- In a news release, Tethers Unlimited said the deliveries also included the first small-satellite mesh networking solution to support data transfer between satellites. “Hitting this delivery rate has taken substantial investments in automating our radio testing infrastructure,” said Rob Hoyt, Tethers Unlimited’s president.
- The SWIFT-SLX radio is designed to provide S-band and L-band communications — not only for commercial customers like Millennium, but for NASA missions such as the Lunar Node 1 navigation beacon that’s destined to be sent to the moon. Earlier this month, Tethers Unlimited said a different type of radio, the SWIFT-XTS, will be used for NASA’s PUNCH sun-watching mission.
- Tethers Unlimited, which was recently acquired by Amergint Technology Holdings, is involved in a variety of commercial and government-funded projects relating to communications, propulsion, robotics and in-space manufacturing. In response to an inquiry, Boeing said Millennium Space Systems “cannot publicly share any information about the constellation” that will use Tethers Unlimited’s radios.
