(By Balaseshan) Teledyne Technologies Inc. (NYSE:TDY), a provider of digital imaging products and software, said its subsidiary received a contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop space-based digital imaging capability.
Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc. was awarded a Cooperative Agreement by NASA to foster the commercial utilization of the International Space Station.
Under the agreement, Teledyne Brown will develop the Multi-User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES), an Earth imaging platform, as part of the company's new commercial space-based digital imaging business.
MUSES is designed to host earth-looking instruments, such as high-resolution digital cameras, and provide precision pointing and other accommodations. It can host up to four instruments simultaneously and offers the ability to change, upgrade, and robotically service those instruments.
Teledyne expects to provide the first commercial imaging system on board the facility. MUSES will help expand the research capability of the space station and provide other commercial companies with a cost-effective means to collect earth images.
Under the terms of the agreement, Teledyne will operate, maintain, and sustain the MUSES and provide services to hosted instruments. Launch of the MUSES system is scheduled to occur in early 2015.
The MUSES design is based on a flight releasable attachment mechanism, or FRAM, a universal mounting platform that Teledyne Brown has manufactured for over 10 years. Teledyne Brown is finalizing the design of MUSES and will fabricate, assemble, test, integrate, and qualify the platform for delivery in late 2014 to NASA.
TDY is trading up 0.33% at $60.90 on Thursday. The stock has been trading between $44.86 and $66.29 for the past 52 weeks.