Northrop Grumman Provides New Flight Software for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope

Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC delivered to NASA the flight software that will enable the James Webb Space Telescope to communicate with its ground station nearly a millions miles away after it passed formal verification testing.

Northrop Grumman engineers verified that the flight software met the Webb mission requirements for ground commands to the spacecraft and science data delivery to the ground station. Formal verification testing of the flight software for launch and deployment is slated for completion by summer 2012.

"Early completion of flight software verification testing achieved cost savings and significant risk retirement for the program," said Andrew Cohen, Webb spacecraft manager, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s next-generation space observatory. It is the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the very first galaxies ever formed and study planets around distant stars. The Webb Telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

Three more spacecraft subassembly critical design reviews are schedules for next year.

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