ULA is the nation’s most experienced and reliable launch service provider, having launched more than 150 missions with a 100% success rate. With every launch mission, Vulcan will have to make its way from the hangar or storage facility to the launch platform on a transport vehicle, which crawls along at about 1 mile per hour. ULA must monitor and support the health of both the rocket and the vehicle during the journey to the launch pad and during the countdown. That task calls for small, high-density media-delivery products that can move 4K/UHD video up to a mile over single-mode fiber without fear of losing power. ULA also needs products that can carry audio, data, and control signals, and they have to be flexible enough to transport IRIG time code in multiple standards over either single-mode or multimode fiber. Finally, all products must be modular, as the environment is not suitable for equipment that gets installed in racks.
After having worked with Artel on previous projects on a smaller scale, ULA chose Artel once again to outfit the monitoring operation for Vulcan for the next several years. Unlike most other solutions, Artel products meet all of ULA’s requirements and more.