How the MIMIC Program Catalyzed Northrop Grumman Leadership in Space
By Brooks McKinney, APR
Since the dawn of the space age, Northrop Grumman has partnered with the U.S. government to help define and implement many of the nation's most challenging space missions.
And the electronic payloads that drive those missions — everything from radiometers for NASA remote sensing missions to the satellite electronics that gather imagery and beam it securely around the world in the blink of an eye — trace their origin and performance back to the company's role as a prime contractor for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)'s Microwave and Millimeter Wave Monolithic Integrated Circuits (MIMIC) program.
The MIMIC program and the gallium arsenide (GaAs) chip technology it produced have transformed both the U.S. space industry and consumer wireless communications. They've also helped Northrop Grumman create and solidify a partnership with DARPA that continues to fuel the company's ability to produce critical technology and subsystems for key U.S. space, ground and airborne missions.
Loading component...
Loading component...
Loading component...
Loading component...
Partnering for Innovation
In the end, observed Oki, the company's leadership in space electronics is built largely on the shoulders of DARPA and the agency's vision for the future needs of military and government systems.
"DARPA has always been extremely good at managing innovation," he said. "Their people have the expertise and vision to sense where technology is headed next and to motivate development of that technology long before it's needed for critical applications. We couldn't ask for a better partner.
