The Air Force Research Laboratory has unveiled its new Radiation Tolerance Research on Electronics for Space and Strategic Systems facility—dubbed FORTRESS—during a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.
Operating under the Space Vehicles Directorate, the $4.5 million facility features a laboratory for developing, testing and certifying various electronic technologies, AFRL said Tuesday. FORTRESS will enable the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force to enhance the capabilities of existing and upcoming space vehicles.
Enabling National Security Space Missions
According to Col. Jeremy Raley, director of the Space Vehicles Directorate, the work performed at FORTRESS ensures that national security space missions are carried out with the required resilience and dependability. “The vast majority of U.S. spacecraft are enabled by electronics developed and tested here,” Raley noted.
Tech for Space Exploration
AFRL confirmed that components previously designed and produced by the FORTRESS team were deployed in spacecraft, such as the International Space Station and Mars Rovers. Moving forward, the facility will work with civil and commercial space technology providers to supply technologies for space exploration and produce new electronics to modernize current capabilities.
FORTRESS, which replicates the environments where technologies are lined up for deployment, will produce electronic components for USAF and USSF systems. It will support the AFRL mission of developing and integrating affordable warfighting technologies for U.S. air, space and cyberspace forces.
