KAM/CSB/12U Smart Backplane Chassis
Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions
A rugged, 12-slot radiation-tolerant chassis that lets standard commercial data acquisition modules operate safely in space radiation environments, reducing the cost of space-grade data handling versus fully rad-hardened electronics.
Typed specifications1 values
Discloses 0 of 11 fields engineers filter by in this category (category median 1).
- Flight heritage
- Boeing CST-100 Starliner, ESA/Avio Vega-C launcher, NASA SLS/Orion, Rocket Lab, SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon, ESA IXV, ULA Delta IV, ISS ACLS product page
Each value is typed with its unit and measurement condition and cites the datasheet page it was taken from. Nothing is guessed: a field that is absent here has not been published by the manufacturer. machine-extracted ✓ checked by NewSpace Market ✓ manufacturer confirmed by the manufacturer.
As published by the supplier8 lines, in the manufacturer's own wording
- Slots
- 12
- Family
- KAM-500 (Acra KAM-500)
- Radiation protection
- Rad-hard backplane detects and corrects Single Event Latch-Up per module
- COTS module compatibility
- 100+ standard COTS I/O plug-in modules
- Power feature
- Per-module on/off control to minimize power consumption
- Target applications
- Launch vehicles, re-entry vehicles, LEO satellites
- Introduced
- April 3, 2017 (33rd Space Symposium)
- Flight heritage
- Boeing CST-100 Starliner, ESA/Avio Vega-C launcher, NASA SLS/Orion, Rocket Lab, SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon, ESA IXV, ULA Delta IV, ISS ACLS
About
The Smart Backplane (KAM/CSB/12U) is a 12-user-slot chassis for space data acquisition, processing, and recording, part of Curtiss-Wright’s Acra KAM-500 family. Its key innovation is a rad-hard backplane providing system-level radiation protection, allowing 100+ standard COTS Acra KAM-500 I/O plug-in modules to be used without their own individual radiation hardening. When the backplane detects a Single Event Latch-Up caused by ionizing radiation, it automatically isolates and power-cycles the affected module within seconds while the rest of the system continues operating. It also minimizes power draw by letting individual modules be commanded on/off across mission phases. Target applications include launch vehicles, re-entry vehicles, and LEO satellites. The system carries flight heritage on Boeing CST-100 Starliner, the ESA/Avio Vega-C launcher, NASA SLS/Orion, Rocket Lab and SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon missions, the ESA IXV, ULA Delta IV, and ISS ACLS life-support monitoring. It was introduced at the 33rd Space Symposium in April 2017 as the space industry’s first rugged COTS-based chassis qualified for reliable data acquisition in space radiation environments.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.