The new RAD5545 single-board computer (SBC) is intended to provide next-generation spacecraft with the processing capacity needed to support future space missions—from weather and planetary exploration to communications, surveillance, tracking and national security missions.
According to the company, the RAD5545 SBC delivers significant improvements in size, speed, and power-efficiency over its predecessor, the RAD750 SBC.
“The RAD5545 SBC is the next step in the evolution of space computers,” said Dave Rea, director of on-board processing and advanced technology at BAE Systems. A single RAD5545 SBC can replace multiple cards on previous generations of spacecraft.
With its improved computational throughput, storage and bandwidth, it will provide spacecraft with the ability to conduct new missions. These include missions requiring encryption processing, multiple operating systems, ultra high-resolution image processing, autonomous operation and simultaneous support for multiple payloads—missions that were impossible with previous single-board computers.
The RAD5545 SBC is produced at the company’s facility in Manassas, Virginia, a U.S. Department of Defense Category 1A Microelectronics Trusted Source.
BAE Systems’ radiation-hardened electronics have been onboard satellites and spacecraft for almost 30 years and the company has provided more than 900 computers on over 300 satellites and spacecraft, including some that are now hundreds of millions of miles away from Earth.
For more information, visit the BAE Systems website.