Is NASA's design opportunity for FPGAs in space vanishing in favor of privatized platforms?

By _FPGA Gurus

July 11, 2013

Not so long ago, the opportunities for rad-hardened FPGAs used in space applications rested with the Defense Department or NASA. The rise of privatized launches and open-architecture microsatellites like CubeSat, however, have made NASA design-ins the exception rather than the rule.

This reality was drilled home in late June as 4DSP LLC announced a $42,479 contract from NASA's Langley Research Center, to use 3U CompactPCI cards based on a Virtex-6 as part of a terrestrial platform to test space instruments. Only a few years ago, NASA and Air Force contracts utilizing FPGAs were commonplace. Now, it's time for microsatellites designed by academia and private industry.

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