GeoLITE is an advanced technology demonstration satellite with a laser communications experiment and an operational UHF communications mission. The GeoLITE program also employs streamlined acquisition and design-to-cost methodologies to complete the satellite development, integration and launch in early 2001.

TRW has total system integration responsibility for GeoLITE. Teammates include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory and Hughes Space and Communications Co.

"This award recognizes TRW's strengths in building high performance, high reliability civil, military and commercial satellite communications systems," said Ed Nowacki, TRW Defense Systems Division vice president and general manager. "It also draws on TRW's extensive system integration capabilities."

The GeoLITE satellite will weigh approximately 4,000 pounds and be launched on a Boeing Delta II launch vehicle. The satellite is based on a modular bus design with multi-mission capabilities that has produced programs such as the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer-Earth Probe, the Earth Observing System Common Spacecraft, and the Republic of China's ROCSAT-1 spacecraft.

GeoLITE extends TRW's ongoing efforts in satellite communications systems. TRW is building six Low Data Rate payloads for the Department of Defense's Milstar communications satellites and is developing a prototype of the key digital processing system for the next generation satellite communications system under the Advanced Extremely High Frequency Engineering Model program.

TRW has built seven NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Systems (TDRSS) satellites, eight Navy UHF Fleet Satellite Communications satellites, 16 Defense Satellite Communication System (DSCS II) satellites and eight INTELSAT III satellites.

TRW provides advanced technology products and services for the automotive, space and defense, and information technology markets worldwide. Its 1997 sales totaled nearly $12 billion (including the recent BDM acquisition).