Nippon Electric Awards Solar Contract

Charles T. Troy

CHATSWORTH, Calif. -- Japan's Nippon Electric Co. has awarded the contract for Solar Array Drive Assemblies and the associated electronics for its Optical Interorbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite program to Schaeffer Magnetics Inc.
The satellite mission, scheduled for launch by the Japanese National Space Development Agency (NASDA) next year, will comprise experiments in pointing, acquisition and tracking technology for optical communications.
The solar assemblies include a power-transfer mechanism based on Schaeffer's spaceflight-qualified actuators. Nippon Electric is the prime contractor on the project. The amount of the contract to Schaeffer was not disclosed.