A view of Terran Orbital’s new PCB facility in Irvine. The manufacturer of satellite products said the new facility will allow it to produce module and bus products in a more timely and cost-efficient manner. (Photo courtesy Terran Orbital)
Satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital said it can produce, inspect, and test a broad spectrum of PCB assemblies at its recently opened facility in Irvine.
BOCA RATON, Fla.— Terran Orbital, a manufacturer of satellite products for the aerospace and defense industries, reported that it opened a new printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) facility in Irvine, California. Offering two new advanced PCBA lines, the facility provides the capacity to assemble 5,000 PCBs per month, Terran Orbital said in a release.
The manufacturer said that in addition to its two new state-of-the-art PCBA surface mount technology (SMT) lines, it added capabilities for post-SMT processes, fully automated inspection, 3-dimensional X-ray testing, automated optical inspection (AOI), and flying probe technologies. These capabilities are said to provide Terran Orbital with the ability to produce, inspect, and test a broad spectrum of PCBAs in its facility.
The ability to produce and control the output, quality, and availability of the company’s PCBA products is expected to decrease supply chain issues and increase parts availability and yield. As a result, Terran Orbital said, it will be able to produce module and bus products in a more timely and cost-efficient manner. This, in turn, will allow the company to continue to produce at shorter and more controlled delivery rates to its customers. “By owning our own facility, we can produce higher quality boards faster, furthering our goal of responsive space,” the company said in the release.
“I’m a big believer that if you control your supply chain, you control your destiny,” said Marc Bell, CEO, co-Founder, and chairman of Terran Orbital, in a statement. “Our two new PCBA lines bring us one step closer to our goal of being 100 percent vertically integrated.”
Terran Orbital said it provides an end-to-end combination of satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and on-orbit support services to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civil, and commercial customers.