Mercury Systems Ships First Space-Qualified Commercial Solid State Drives

Mercury Systems (NASDAQ:MRCY) announced on Wednesday that the company has shipped its space-qualified secure solid-state drives (SSD) to two leading suppliers of low Earth orbit satellites.

As quoted in the press release:

Designed to operate reliably in high radiation environments, this device is the first commercial SSD leveraging VITA 78 SpaceVPX^™ standards to reduce customer cost and mitigate program risk. In addition to commercial satellite applications, this device is ideally suited for high-altitude aircraft, airborne weapons and mission-critical ground computing systems.

“Customer demand for commercial radiation-tolerant SSD devices for LEO satellites has far surpassed our expectations as we continue to gain share in this dynamic market,” said Iain Mackie, Vice President and General Manager of Mercury’s Microelectronics Secure Solutions group. “I am immensely proud of the employees of our Phoenix Advanced Microelectronics Center who have successfully demonstrated that Mercury’s innovative next-generation business model unlocks value for satellite designers and manufacturers around the globe.”

At the heart of the SSD is Mercury’s proprietary NAND controller with BuiltSECURE^™ error correcting code (ECC) algorithms. These ECC algorithms mitigate radiation-induced byte errors, thereby enabling sustainable reliability and fault tolerance that are not available with competing storage solutions. As Mercury maintains 100% authority over the controller and its implementation, this device is readily customizable for non-traditional use cases when deemed critical to a customer’s program.

Honored with a Platinum award in the category of Trusted Computing in the 2018 Military & Aerospace Electronics Innovators Awards program, Mercury’s TRRUST-Stor VPX RT device provides long-term data integrity. Engineered into an open standards platform, customers can seamlessly integrate this device into the SpaceVPX ecosystem of processing boards and chassis without sacrificing affordability. As the need for radiation-tolerant devices for LEO satellites proliferates, system development around the SpaceVPX open standard architecture will be integral in supporting the growth of the space market.

Mercury’s dedication to all aspects of industrial security extends far beyond product design and into the cadence of its daily operations. The Company’s entire portfolio of advanced digital microelectronic solutions are designed and manufactured in a Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA)-accredited facility for design, packaging, test and broker services. Several of Mercury’s facilities have been recognized for excellence by receiving a Superior rating from the Defense Security Service (DSS).

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