Space Systems
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 1957 as Philco WDL |
| Headquarters | Palo Alto, California |
| Parent | MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates |
| Website | www.sslmda.com |
SSL, formerly Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA).
SSL designs and builds satellites and space systems for a wide variety of government and commercial customers. Its products include high-powered direct-to-home broadcast satellites, commercial weather satellites, digital audio radio satellites, Earth observation satellites and spot-beam satellites for data networking applications.
The company was founded as the Western Development Laboratories (WDL) of Philco (Philco-Ford since 1966). The Space Systems Division of Aeronutronic/Ford Aerospace/was acquired in by Loral Corp. in 1990 for $715 million from Ford Motor Company, and renamed Space Systems/Loral.
In 2012 Space Systems/Loral was acquired by the Canadian aerospace company MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) for $875 million.
SSL’s major competitors are Boeing Satellite Systems, Lockheed Martin, Thales Alenia Space, Airbus Defence and Space and JSC Information Satellite Systems.
In 1960, the Courier 1B, built by then Philco, became the world's first active repeater satellite.
SSL has recently pioneered research in electric propulsion systems, lithium-ion power systems and the use of advanced composites on commercial satellites, which permit significant increases in the size and power of a satellite’s payload and extends the satellite’s on-orbit lifetime. SSL also has developed new service-enhancing technologies such as super power systems for direct-to-user applications and ground-based beam forming, a technology that uses both satellite and terrestrial assets to provide mobile users with increased coverage and capacity capabilities.
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