Harris Corporation Celebrates Production of 100th Unfurlable Satellite Mesh Reflector
Highlights:
- Showcases company’s 40-plus-year legacy and significant lead over nearest competitor
- Reflects unmatched commitment to invest and grow space antenna reflector technology
- 100th reflector expands mission to gather information about the changing state of global forests
MELBOURNE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HarrisCorp?src=hash" target="_blank"gt;#HarrisCorplt;/agt;–Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) will celebrate a major space satellite antenna milestone – the production of its 100th unfurlable mesh reflector, which provides the critical communications link between satellites and ground stations. The company is the world reflector leader, producing significantly more than any other company over the past 40-plus years.
Harris employees, customers and other dignitaries will gather next week at the company’s Palm Bay, Florida, facility to commemorate the production of the latest reflector, which will support a carbon-monitoring satellite mission to study the changing state of global forests. Harris is manufacturing the reflector for Airbus Defence and Space, Europe’s leading space company.
The 12-meter reflector will be the first space-borne, P-band antenna designed to observe annual changes in biomass – the amount of living matter in a given habitat – in most of the world’s forests, over multiple growth cycles. Studying biomass is important in understanding the Earth’s climate.
This milestone demonstrates Harris’ commitment to investing in and growing space antenna reflector solutions with unmatched on-orbit success and design options. Harris continues to invest in its technologies with more than $300 million annual internal research and development – representing an industry-leading 5 percent of company revenue. The company began manufacturing space antennas in the 1970s.
“The production of Harris’ 100th unfurlable mesh reflector is a major accomplishment, and we’re excited to see it support an environmental mission with global impact,” said Tom Campbell, general manager, Space Antennas and Structures, Harris Space and Intelligence Systems. “This is a tribute to the more than 400 dedicated men and women who engineer and build these state-of-the-art reflectors at Harris.”
Chris Lloyd, Head of the Biomass programme at Airbus said: “Building the world’s first forest measurement satellite for the European Space Agency is a huge challenge – and this reflector will be a key element in helping to measure forest biomass and carbon on a global scale.”
For additional information, visit: www.harris.com/Celebrating100Unfurlables.
About Harris Corporation
Harris Corporation is a leading technology innovator, solving customers’ toughest mission-critical challenges by providing solutions that connect, inform and protect. Harris supports government and commercial customers in more than 100 countries and has approximately $6 billion in annual revenue. The company is organized into three business segments: Communication Systems, Electronic Systems and Space and Intelligence Systems. Learn more at harris.com.
Contacts
Irene Lockwood
Harris Corporation
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585-269-5517 Desk
585-465-3592 Mobile
Jim Burke
Harris Corporation
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321-727-9131
This article published with permission from Business Wire
