May 13, 2013  — VPT is set to exhibit and give a presentation at next week’s Space Tech Expo in Long Beach, California. Stop by to view the latest VPT space-qualified DC-DC converters, point of load converters, and EMI filters for space power systems.

Exhibit: May 21 – 23, 2013, booth #8010.

Presentation: “Important Factors in Selecting DC-DC Converters for Tomorrow’s Space Applications,” by Paul Andersen, Regional Sales Manager, VPT.  Presentation will be at 12:20 p.m., May 21, in the Open Tech Forum.

Location: Long Beach Convention Center, California

VPT will also be attending the Nuclear Space and Radiation Effects Conference California in July.

View the complete schedule and details on  our events page.

April 23, 2013 — VPT congratulates Orbital and NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the successful test last weekend of the new Antares launch rocket. This vehicle is powered by VPT and on top of the excitement of the launch success, we are thrilled to see this vehicle launch from our own home state of Virginia!

See the details of the Antares program in this nifty infographic posted by Space.com: http://www.space.com/20526-antares-rocket-cygnus-spacecraft-explained.html

More on Antares and other recent VPT programs.

February 27, 2012 — VPT announced today participation in the upcoming Space Parts Working Group conference. Dr. Dan Sable, CEO of VPT, will present on the latest product developments in DC-DC converters and EMI filters qualified for use in space applications.

Date: April 23-24, 2013

Location: Doubletree by Hilton, Torrance, CA

VPT will also be attending the Space Tech Expo in California in May, and the Nuclear Space and Radiation Effects Conference California in July.

View the complete schedule and details on  our events page.

February 25, 2013 — VPT is proud to power critical flight systems on the Atlas V expendable launch vehicle. Run by the United Launch Alliance of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, the Atlas V has logged nearly 600 launches to date with 100% mission success.

Read about this program plus the other programs the rely on VPT on our Program Spotlight page.

February 13, 2012 – VPT’s line of space DC-DC converters were recently profiled in a new book written by NASA, Spinoff. The article details the history of a grant from NASA which enabled VPT to research, design, and develop a line of DC-DC converters for space that address the challenges and requirements of today’s space applications.

Spinoff 2012 presents remarkable examples of spinoffs providing benefits around the world—saving lives, creating jobs, preserving resources, and more. The NASA Spinoff book offers 204 pages highlighting the many different technologies that NASA has transferred to private sector.  The Agency distributes copies to politicians, economic  decision makers, company CEOs, academics, professionals in technology transfer, the news media, and the general public.

Read the Spinoff article on VPT

Download a .pdf of the entire Spinoff publication.

January 21, 2013 — In an exclusive technology feature, How2Power.com has published VPT’s latest article, “Rad Hard Processors And Power Converters Propel Intermediate Bus Architecture Into Space Applications.”  Authored by VPT’s Manager of Space Product Engineering, Leonard Leslie, this article covers efficient design parameters, various architectures, and the vital environmental issues to consider when developing a distributed power system for space.

Read it now.

December 5, 2012 - The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has added two of VPT’s DC-DC power converters to
Standard Microcircuit Drawing (SMD) #5962-03243.

DVHF285R7S - 15W output power, 5.7Vout, 28Vin nominal

DVHF2818S -

20W output power, 18Vout, 28Vin nominal

Both modules can now be ordered qualified to MIL-PRF-38534 and marked with DLA SMD numbers in both standard
gold plated lead finish and hot solder dip lead finish in Class H and Class K device classes.
To order, contact VPT Sales.

July 26, 2012 -  Military Aerospace Electronics Magazine stopped by the VPT booth at the recent Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference (NSREC) to check out our new SVGA 15A point of load DC-DC converter.This video features Leonard Leslie, our Manager of Space Products.

Intended for space applications, the SVGA0515S is an important module in VPT’s distributed power system for space applications.

• Rad hard to 100 krads (Si) including ELDRS
• MIL-PRF-38534 Class K qualified
• Available on DLA SMDs

July 17, 2012  – Stop by and see VPT at the Nuclear Space and Radiation Effects Conference today and tomorrow in Miami, Florida. See our newest product, the SVGA0515S point of load DC-DC converter for space, and check out our demo board. Booth 42.

June 6, 2012 – It is getting cosmic around here! VPT is powering systems on ESA’s Venus Express, launched in 2005. Yesterday and today this spacecraft was busy taking measurements during the transit of Venus across the Sun.

According to the Venus Express blog, the spacecraft orbiting Venus is measuring sunlight as it filters through Venus’ atmosphere, revealing the concentration of different gas molecules at different altitudes. Simultaneous ground-based measurements will be compared with Venus Express data to test techniques use to characterize rocky Earth-size planets.

Read more on Venus Express here: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=64.

May 29, 2012 – Last week  Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon spacecraft bound for the International Space Station (ISS). After orbiting, the Dragon capsule successfully attached to the ISS to deliver food and supplies to the astronauts stationed there.

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) made history when its Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial vehicle in history to successfully attach to the International Space Station.  Previously only four governments  – the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency  – had achieved this challenging technical feat.

VPT is proud to be a part of the excitement, powering a variety of environmental, antenna, and safety controls on board both the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon space capsule.

View the grappling and berthing of the Dragon capsule, courtesy of NASA:

VPT is the only manufacturer to now offer two point of load converters that are MIL-PRF-38534 Class H and Class K Qualified, 100K rad hard, and available off-the-shelf.

BLACKSBURG, VA, May 8, 2012 – VPT Inc., a HEICO company (NYSE:HEI.A) (NYSE:HEI), announced today the availability
of a new point of load power converter designed and manufactured for use in the extreme environment of space. The new SVGA0515 Series point of load DC-DC converter is now qualified to MIL-PRF-38534 Class H and Class K by the Defense Logistics Agency.  The SVGA delivers up to 50W of output power, is radiation hardened to 100 krads (Si) including Enhanced Low Dose Rate Sensitivity (ELDRS), and is characterized to SEE of 85 MeV-cm2/mg.

The SVGA Series is the latest addition to VPT’s existing line of space DC-DC converters. The SVGA functions as a non-isolated,
regulated buck converter that steps down the voltage at the point of use in a distributed power system. From a single, small size, high current package, this module saves significant board space, weight, and cost for power systems headed for LEO, MEO, GEO, and deep space missions.

“To reduce weight and component cost, distributed power systems are relying more on smaller, less expensive point of load
converters used in conjunction with the larger, traditional, isolated DC-DC converters. Customer response to our space-qualified, off-the-shelf, point of load DC-DC converters has been phenomenal,” explained Monty Pyle, Executive Director of Sales. “We’ve been asked for a higher current option without the need to waste space and weight stringing together multiple POL converters.
We’re proud to announce that this product will satisfy the needs of space customers requiring higher power levels and stringent radiation requirements.”

Read the Complete Article  

VPT’s president, Dr. Dan Sable, will give a presentation on space-qualified
hybrid DC-DC converters and accessories at this year’s Space Parts Working
Group. See Dr. Sable’s presentation on Wednesday, 4/25, at 1:25 p.m.

Space Parts Working Group (SPWG) is sponsored by The Aerospace
Corporation in cooperation with the Space and Missile Systems Center. In its
41st year, SPWG is an unclassified, international forum for disseminating
information to the aerospace industry and for resolving problems with
high-reliability electronic piece parts for space applications.

Planning to attend? Register here.

VPT’s SV Series of Rad Hard DC-DC Power Converters Now Listed on Standard Microcircuit Drawings

BLACKSBURG, VA, November 15, 2011 – VPT Inc., a HEICO company (NYSE:HEI.A) (NYSE:HEI), today announced that the Defense
Logistics Agency (DLA)  has issued new Standard Microcircuit Drawings (SMDs) for more than 150 of VPT’s space grade, radiation hardened DC-DC power converter modules.

VPT’s rad hard SV Series of DC-DC converters are manufactured to MIL-PRF-38534 Class K, the highest level for products used in space environments. These products are suited for use in a wide variety of space applications including low Earth orbit (LEO) systems, geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) systems, deep space probes, and other demanding applications.

The specific space grade SV Series DC-DC converters now available
on DLA SMDs include:

•  SMD# 5962-11219:  6W SVSA single output modules of 3.3V, 5V, 12V, and 15V
• SMD# 5962-11216: 6W SVSA dual output modules of ±5V, ±12V, ±15V
• SMD# 5962-11218: 20W SVHF single output modules of 3.3V, 5V, 12V, and 15V
• SMD# 5962-11215: 20W SVHF dual output modules of ±5V, ±12V, ±15V
• SMD# 5962-11220: 40W SVTR single output modules of 3.3V, 5V, 12V, and 15V
• SMD# 5962-11223: 40W SVTR dual output modules of ±5V, ±12V, ±15V
• SMD# 5962-11217: 120W SVFL single output modules of 3.3V, 5V, 12V, and 15V
• SMD# 5962-11214: 120W SVFL dual output modules of ±5V, ±12V, ±15V

Read the Complete Article  

VPT recently received a letter from the Russian Space Research Institute recognizing VPT’s contribution to the development of the Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched in 2009.

In a letter, the Institute said, “Due to perfect cooperation with your company, the flight-quality secondary power converters made by VPT were delivered to us in the shortest terms possible at our special request and then they were successfully and timely integrated into the instrument having passed all the testing procedures.”

The letter went on to praise VPT with “Since the start of the LRO mission on June 19, 2009, the LEND instrument has been successfully operating as part of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter which proves high technical performance and reliability of your company’s products.”

The LEND instrument provided a unique dataset on hydrogen abundance in the lunar soil, and this data is already used by the scientific community worldwide to plan further manned missions to the Moon.

Dr. Dan Sable, President of VPT, will make a presentation at the Space Parts Working Group Conference in Torrance, CA on April 26, 2011.  He will present the topic ”VPT Radiation-Hardened DC-DC Converters.”

Details.

VPT introduces a new section on our web site: applications.

Check out VPT’s programs and systems  experience.
Plus, each page spotlights applicable DC-DC power converters, EMI filters, preconditioning modules, and accessories that provide reliable power for your most demanding applications:

• Commercial Avionics
• Ground Vehicles
• Marine Systems
• Military Avionics
• Space Systems
• Weapons Systems

While you’re there, you can also explore the extensive list of air, land and sea programs that already incorporate VPT power solutions.

NASA’s spacecraft, Mercury Messenger, is now all set to explore our system’s “smallest and strangest” planet. Check it out!

Read the USA Today article.

Read about the mission on NASA’s website.