Mercury Introduces the First Space-qualified FPGA Processing Board Powered by AMD Xilinx Versal® Technology

ANDOVER, Mass., Sept. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mercury Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY, www.mrcy.com), a technology company that delivers processing power for the most demanding aerospace and defense missions, today introduced the first space-qualified FPGA processing board to use AMD’s Xilinx Versal® AI core. The SCFE6933 is a radiation-tolerant, 6U SpaceVPX board that will make high-performance computing more accessible for a broad range of space applications and customers.

Mercury’s SCFE6933 allows data to be processed on orbit faster, more efficiently, and more reliably. Optimized for size, weight, and power, the SCFE6933 performs in a single board what previously required three boards, simplifying mission architectures, and reducing costs. The Versal AI core drives heterogeneous processing efficiencies never before available as an off-the-shelf product for space systems, allowing more data to be processed in less time. It is also software-defined, bringing the ability to dynamically add application-specific IP and customize its functions in orbit, extending spacecraft utility as mission objectives evolve over time.

Mercury’s first customer for the SCFE6933 is Ball Aerospace, with whom the product is being co-developed. Mercury will make lab development models available to commercial customers this year with flight units available in 2024.

Mercury has a strong legacy in space, having delivered more than 20,000 space-qualified devices with no in-flight failures and solutions used on more than 65 satellite and launch vehicle programs.​ Our space systems and components are purpose-built for harsh, radiation-intense environments:

• Cockpit displays allow commercial space vehicle crews to operate safely
• Solid-state data recorders leverage the VPX form factor for agile interoperability and accelerated system design
• Memory modules enable sophisticated in-space applications and manage exploding volumes of data
• RF components including filters, amplifiers, and ferrites support high-performance, high-reliability space missions

Why It Matters
The demand for advanced data processing in orbit has never been greater—from keeping satellite costs low by using software-defined satellite architectures, to minimizing latency for rapid response to emerging threats, to having the ability to pre-process sensor data and downlink only mission-relevant information. Mercury’s unique position at the intersection of high-tech and defense allows it to serve as the semiconductor industry’s partner of choice to supply COTS and modified COTS processing hardware and a trusted partner to aerospace and defense customers that want to leverage the latest commercial technologies in their space architectures.

“For more than 40 years, Mercury has designed and manufactured hardware compliant to space quality standards, and we understand the challenges of mission power, computing, and storage at the edge,” said Roger Wells, EVP and President of Mercury’s Microelectronics division. “The demand for advanced processing power in space has never been greater, and the SCFE6933 will enable a new generation of space missions to turn data into real-time decisions.”

Mercury’s SCFE6933, an AI-ready FPGA board designed for high-performance processing in space

• 6U SpaceVPX board built with Versal ACAP
• Radiation tolerant for use in space
• Designed to the SpaceVPX open standard that allows for rapid technology insertion, interoperability, and reuse
• Performance improvements of up to 20x over today’s fastest FPGA implementations
• Performance improvements up to 100x over today’s fastest CPU implementations
• Utilizes Mercury’s space-qualified DDR memory with electronic code correction, which can detect, correct, monitor, and reduce data corruption for increased data reliability

For more information, visit mrcy.com or contact Mercury at info@mrcy.com.

Mercury Systems – Innovation that matters® by and for people who matter
Mercury Systems is a technology company that pushes processing power to the tactical edge, making the latest commercial technologies profoundly more accessible for today’s most challenging aerospace and defense missions. From silicon to system scale, Mercury enables customers to accelerate innovation and turn data into decision superiority. Mercury is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, and has 24 locations worldwide. To learn more, visit mrcy.com. (Nasdaq: MRCY)

Forward-Looking Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including those relating to the Company's focus on enhanced execution of the Company's strategic plan under a refreshed Board and leadership team. You can identify these statements by the words “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “would,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “continue,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “likely,” “forecast,” “probable,” “potential,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, continued funding of defense programs, the timing and amounts of such funding, general economic and business conditions, including unforeseen weakness in the Company’s markets, effects of any U.S. federal government shutdown or extended continuing resolution, effects of geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in or cost increases related to completing development, engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations, changes in, or in the U.S. government’s interpretation of, federal export control or procurement rules and regulations, changes in, or in the interpretation or enforcement of, environmental rules and regulations, market acceptance of the Company's products, shortages in or delays in receiving components, supply chain delays or volatility for critical components such as semiconductors, production delays or unanticipated expenses including due to quality issues or manufacturing execution issues, failure to achieve or maintain manufacturing quality certifications, such as AS9100, the impact of the COVID pandemic and supply chain disruption, inflation and labor shortages, among other things, on program execution and the resulting effect on customer satisfaction, inability to fully realize the expected benefits from acquisitions, restructurings, and execution excellence initiatives or delays in realizing such benefits, challenges in integrating acquired businesses and achieving anticipated synergies, effects of shareholder activism, increases in interest rates, changes to industrial security and cyber-security regulations and requirements and impacts from any cyber or insider threat events, changes in tax rates or tax regulations, such as the deductibility of internal research and development, changes to interest rate swaps or other cash flow hedging arrangements, changes to generally accepted accounting principles, difficulties in retaining key employees and customers, which difficulties may be impacted by the termination of the Company’s announced strategic review initiative, unanticipated challenges with the transition of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer roles, including any dispute arising with the former CEO over his resignation, unanticipated costs under fixed-price service and system integration engagements, and various other factors beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties also include such additional risk factors as are discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made.

MEDIA CONTACT

Turner Brinton
Sr. Director of Corporate Communications
Turner.Brinton@mrcy.com 

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