Successful MISSE upgrade commissioned
HOUSTON – Aegis Aerospace Inc., formerly Alpha Space Test and Research Alliance, has
successfully completed a comprehensive avionics upgrade of its MISSE testing facility on
the ISS. The fully redundant avionics system provides MISSE customers with higher
bandwidth for internal data transfer, several choices of communication protocols,
selectable voltages for power input, and expanded data storage. The improved avionics
significantly enhance MISSE’s resilience and enables Aegis Aerospace to easily update
system software and active experiments while on orbit. Available data downlink and
commanding paths to and from the ISS include fully redundant Wi-Fi, ethernet, and
others. Experiment data storage of up to 1 Terabyte is also available. MISSE’s new
avionics have the flexibility and capacity to accommodate a wide range of technology
demonstrations and experiments on a robust, highly reliable platform.
MISSE is an orbiting, commercial R&D testing facility permanently installed on the exterior
of the ISS and is one of three testing facilities through which Aegis Aerospace offers its
unique, turn-key Space Testing as a Service (STaaS). “Our customers let us know that they
want high reliability, high bandwidth communications, more data storage, and more
communication protocol options,” stated Mark Gittleman, Aegis Aerospace president &
CEO. “This upgrade provides all of that and more,” he continued.
Mark Shumbera, Aegis Aerospace’s vice president of commercial space services added,
“We’re focused on our customers’ needs and making sure that MISSE has the capacity
and capabilities that they have told us they want. These avionics upgrades have opened
the door to upcoming camera, sensor, and electronic experiments that we couldn’t
have done previously, including some that will use dedicated MISSE science carriers.”
Aegis Aerospace will continue to launch and return MISSE science carriers approximately
every six months for the rest of the space station’s planned life. “Our next two launches
are scheduled for August 2021 and February 2022,” added Shumbera, “we’re working on
more upgrades, and are booking experiments for our Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 missions
now.”
Aegis Aerospace owns and operates MISSE, the first woman-owned facility in space,
under agreements with NASA and the ISS National Laboratory. It also offers Space Testing
as a Service on the lunar surface through two systems under development and
scheduled for their initial launches in 2023 and 2024.
About Aegis Aerospace Inc.
Aegis Aerospace Inc. is a woman-owned space and technology company that provides
turn-key solutions to government and commercial customers in the space and defense
industries. Formed in 2021 through a merger between Alpha Space and MEI
Technologies, Aegis Aerospace offers 30 years of success and innovation in the areas of
technology and engineering services, commercial space services, and related space
and defense products. For more information, visit www.aegisaero.com.
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TECHNICAL CONTACT:
Mark Shumbera, Vice President of Commercial Space Services
Mark.Shumbera@AegisAero.com; 832.915.5408
MEDIA CONTACT:
Cristina Mire, Communications Specialist
cristina.mire@aegisaero.com; 281.283.6031
