Ducommun has announced that its Miltec Corporation (Miltec) subsidiary delivered flight-ready nanosatellites to the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) in Huntsville, Alabama on April 28, 2009.

This delivery marks the completion of the first U.S. Army satellite development program since the Courier 1B communications satellite in 1960.

Joseph C. Berenato, chairman and chief executive officer of Ducommun, stated, "This delivery demonstrates our ability to design, develop and deliver a flight-ready satellite system in less than one year. This performance highlights the unique design and development capabilities at Miltec and strengthens our partnership with the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. We are looking forward to a successful on-orbit demonstration which is the next phase of this program."

The SMDC-ONE program is managed by the USASMDC/ARSTRAT Technical Center, Space Division.

The design and development effort was primarily conducted at Miltec Corporation located in Huntsville, Alabama, with portions of the design and integration testing performed at Miltec's System Integration and Test Facility located in Iuka, Mississippi.

Miltec worked closely with the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center for flight qualification and subsystem testing. Delivery of the SMDC-ONE satellites signals the beginning of the launch integration and technical demonstration planning phase.