The company announced that the Endura processor has proven its ability to operate reliably in both natural space radiation conditions and the most severe strategic radiation environments, positioning the technology as a key enabler for future military, intelligence and commercial space missions.
According to BAE Systems, the successful testing validates the processor’s survivability and performance while delivering a more compact, energy-efficient and cost-effective solution than many existing radiation-hardened systems.
“This milestone positions the Endura SoC as a leading high-performance processor for the space community,” Space Systems product line director Joe Dziezynski said.
“Leveraging commercial foundry technology, Endura delivers a smaller, lower-power and more cost-effective solution for missions requiring survivability in harsh radiation.”
The processor was developed using BAE Systems’ proprietary radiation-hardened 45-nanometre technology, built on a commercial silicon-on-insulator manufacturing platform produced by GlobalFoundries in New York. The architecture combines commercially derived manufacturing efficiencies with specialised hardening techniques designed to protect electronics from radiation-induced degradation and failure.
The demonstration is particularly significant as modern satellites become increasingly dependent on powerful onboard processing to support communications, intelligence gathering, navigation, missile warning and autonomous mission functions. Radiation remains one of the most persistent threats to spacecraft electronics, with exposure capable of causing data corruption, degraded performance or complete system failure.
BAE Systems said the testing not only validated the Endura processor itself but also highlighted the broader potential of the company’s radiation-hardened technology for other critical spacecraft systems, including single-board computers and mission-specific electronics.
The Endura processor will form the foundation of BAE Systems’ next-generation space electronics product line, incorporating general-purpose processing, secure boot functionality, networking capabilities and advanced field-programmable gate array technologies. These capabilities are intended to provide mission designers with greater processing power while reducing size, weight and power requirements – three critical factors in spacecraft design.
The development also reflects a growing strategic focus on assured access to trusted microelectronics for national security space missions. With space increasingly recognised as a contested operational domain, governments are seeking resilient and secure supply chains for critical technologies underpinning military and intelligence capabilities.
GlobalFoundries senior director of aerospace and defence Ezra Hall said trusted domestic semiconductor manufacturing remains essential for advanced defence and aerospace applications.
“GlobalFoundries’ facility in Malta, New York, is a cornerstone of trusted US semiconductor manufacturing, providing the secure, domestic foundational technologies needed for mission-critical aerospace and defence applications,” Hall said.
“Working with the US government, GF and BAE Systems are extending strategic manufacturing and technology advancements to address the evolving needs for resilient, trusted and scalable microelectronics.”
BAE Systems is now accepting orders for software development units incorporating the Endura processor, with production and support provided through the company’s Space Systems facility in Manassas, Virginia.
The site is certified as a trusted source for advanced microelectronics and supports the design, manufacture, assembly and testing of high-reliability components for both government and commercial space programs.
The successful demonstration comes amid growing demand for radiation-hardened computing systems capable of supporting increasingly sophisticated spacecraft, satellite constellations and national security space architectures, where survivability, performance and trusted manufacturing are becoming critical competitive advantages.
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?Make Space Connect a preferred news source on Google.