TROPICS Pathfinder Satellite
Established in 1963, the R&D 100 Awards is the only S&T (science and technology) awards competition that recognizes new commercial products, technologies, and materials for their technological significance that are available for sale or license. The R&D 100 Awards, celebrating the program's 60th Anniversary this year, has long been a benchmark of excellence for industry sectors as diverse as telecommunications, high-energy physics, software, manufacturing, and biotechnology. This 2022 R&D 100 winner is listed below, along with its respective category.
Category: Process/Prototyping
Developers: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Co-Developers: NASA Blue Canyon Technologies
United States
Product Description:The TROPICS Pathfinder Satellite measures atmospheric temperature, water vapor, and precipitation in 12 microwave channels spanning 90–205 GHz, while being approximately 50 times smaller than current weather-sensing systems. Its size drastically reduces costs for developing and launching high-performance satellites.
Developers: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Co-Developers: NASA Blue Canyon Technologies
United States
Product Description:The TROPICS Pathfinder Satellite measures atmospheric temperature, water vapor, and precipitation in 12 microwave channels spanning 90–205 GHz, while being approximately 50 times smaller than current weather-sensing systems. Its size drastically reduces costs for developing and launching high-performance satellites.
Figure 1