Curtiss-Wright Congratulates NASA and Boeing on Successful Boeing OFT-2 Mission to the International Space Station

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Press release
May 27, 2022

Curtiss-Wright Congratulates NASA and Boeing on Successful Boeing OFT-2 Mission to the International Space Station

Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 mission for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft supported by Curtiss-Wright data acquisition technology

 

ASHBURN, Va. – May 27, 2022 – Curtiss-Wright's Defense Solutions division, a leading supplier of rugged flight test instrumentation solutions engineered to succeed, today congratulated NASA and Boeing on the successful Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Curtiss-Wright is proud to support this historic flight as a supplier of rugged data acquisition equipment used on board Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Curtiss-Wright supplies Boeing with the CST-100’s RAIU (Remote Analog Interface Unit) based on the company’s Acra KAM-500 data handling avionics equipment. The RAIU is used to gather data on the status and health of critical spacecraft systems during all phases of the mission. 

The flight, NASA’s second uncrewed flight for Starliner, was launched to the ISS on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The OFT-2 mission demonstrates the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner spacecraft and Atlas V rocket from launch to docking to a return to Earth in the desert of the western United States.

“As a proud supplier to NASA’s Orbital Flight Test-2 mission to the International Space Station, we congratulate NASA and Boeing on the successful Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft mission,” said Chris Wiltsey, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Defense Solutions division. “We are pleased that our proven and trusted space data acquisition technology are utilized to help capture the critical data required to support the development of this historic space vehicle. It’s an honor to be part of the team helping to usher in the next generation of American space travel and preparing to launch NASA astronauts on missions to deep space. With Curtiss-Wright’s long legacy as an aviation and aerospace innovator, starting with the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtiss, we are especially excited to participate in this important and exciting program that will return Americans to the moon and later on to Mars.”

The uncrewed mission will provide valuable data toward NASA certifying Boeing’s crew transportation system for regular flights with astronauts to and from the space station. During the mission, the spacecraft delivered more than 400 pounds of NASA cargo and crew supplies to the space station and returned to Earth with more than 550 pounds of cargo, including reusable Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) tanks that provide breathable air to station crew members.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with industry through a public-private partnership to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station, which will allow for additional research time and will increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity’s testbed for exploration. The space station remains the springboard to space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

About Curtiss-Wright’s Space Solutions

Curtiss-Wright is the leading provider of data acquisition products for Space Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) and radiation tolerant COTS applications. By combining COTS savings with innovative radiation tolerant strategies, Curtiss-Wright enables trusted systems to be built that meet the needs of the mission at a significantly lower cost. The use of Curtiss-Wright’s radiation tolerant Smart Backplane™ design enables system developers to meet their mission assurance requirements without the high NRE and costs associated with radiation hardened designs. Additionally, custom data acquisition modules can help reduce weight by removing the need for separate avionics boxes, while the ability to turn modules on and off enables power budgets to be managed more efficiently. Curtiss-Wright’s Space COTS approach is proven on multiple Space applications including EASA Vega-C, NASA Orion SLS & CRV, Boeing CST-100, Blue Horizon’s New Shepard, SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon, ESA IXV, and ULA Delta V.

 

About Curtiss-Wright Corporation

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (NYSE:CW) is a global integrated business that provides highly engineered products, solutions and services mainly to Aerospace & Defense markets, as well as critical technologies in demanding Commercial Power, Process and Industrial markets. We leverage a workforce of 7,800 highly skilled employees who develop, design and build what we believe are the best engineered solutions to the markets we serve. Building on the heritage of Glenn Curtiss and the Wright brothers, Curtiss-Wright has a long tradition of providing innovative solutions through trusted customer relationships. For more information, visit www.curtisswright.com.

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John Wranovics

John Wranovics

Director of Public Relations

John Wranovics has over thirty years of experience in managing media relations and the promotion of high technology products. He has been with Curtiss-Wright since 2003. He has a degree in English Literature from the University of California, Berkeley.

Reduce costs, development time, and risk by using a COTS approach

Curtiss-Wright helps reduce costs, development time, and risk by using a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) approach that utilizes an extensive library of proven IP and decades of rugged system design experience. Our designers optimize systems for low cost of ownership based on a customer’s application and the procurement life of the platform. The Curtiss-Wright Space COTS versatility has been fully proven – no other COTS system has been qualified and used successfully in such a wide variety of space missions for both Development Flight Instrumentation (DFI) and Operational Flight Instrumentation (OFI) requirements.

Leverage COTS designs to meet mission assurance requirements more cost effectively

Our space COTS and Smart Backplane products have been proven on multiple space applications, including EASA Vega-C, NASA Orion SLS & CRV, Boeing CST-100 Starliner, SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon, ESA IXV and ULA Delta V.