[Satellite TODAY Insider 01-12-11] Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems selected Northrop Grumman’s scalable Space Inertial Reference Unit (SIRU) as its satellite platforms’ inertial reference unit, Northrop Grumman announced Jan. 11.
    Boeing and Northrop Grumman signed a strategic agreement that will see SIRU included as part of Boeing’s baseline design for satellites over the next two years. Northrop Grumman’s scalable SIRU recently was launched aboard the Boeing-built SkyTerra 1 next-generation mobile communications satellite and is performing as part of the satellite’s attitude control system.
    The scalable SIRU is Northrop Grumman’s upgrade to its previous SIRU model, which the company claims has operated in space without a mission failure for more than 16 million hours since the product first entered service in February 1996.
    Separately, Boeing placed an additional order with Saft for lithium-ion (Li-ion) space batteries as part of its five-year agreement signed with the battery manufacturer in 2009.
    The multi-million dollar order will see Saft deliver 12 battery packs of high-energy Li-ion batteries for three Ka-band Boeing 702HP satellites being built for the Inmarsat-5 series. Saft’s rechargeable batteries will offer 15kW of onboard power for up to 18 years of battery life.
   Saft also is under a multi-million dollar contract with United Launch Alliance to develop customized lithium-ion batteries for its Atlas 5 and Delta 4 launch vehicles. Those batteries will include a termination system that will provide power to abort a mission, if needed.

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