Murrysville company will help test systems for lunar lander

In the summer of 2021, Pittsburgh tech company Astrobotic plans to launch an unmanned lunar landing mission after being awarded a contract by NASA.

But before that can happen, someone needs to make sure all of the lander’s systems are functioning correctly and working in concert with one another.

That’s where Software Design Solutions comes in: Long before the Peregrine lunar lander hits the surface of the moon, the Murrysville company founded by Allegheny Township resident Ed Kuzemchak will help Astrobotic test its system controls.

“We do embedded software system design,” Kuzemchak said. “I describe it as software that is directly controlling difficult things, like the anti-lock brakes in your car, heart monitors, CPAP machines and what will be this completely unmanned lunar lander.”

SDS’ work in the medical, industrial, transportation and defense sectors made it a natural fit for designing and building both hardware and software to support testing of the Peregrine’s individual circuit boards before they’re assembled, and to conduct system-level testing afterward.

SDS, which Kuzemchak founded in 2003, was sold in 2016 to Long Island-based Applied Visions.

“The original lunar lander was built in Long Island,” Kuzemchak said. “So (Applied Visions owner Frank Zinghini) was really excited when he found out that Astrobotic was going to be the first group to land on the moon since we left it.”

Zinghini and Kuzemchak reached out to Astrobotic “in the same way we do with a lot of folks saying, ‘We know there’s a lot you have to do, so let’s sit down and brainstorm how we can help.’”

That help involves building fixtures and software to test the Peregrine’s electronics, to “really give them a workout before they put the whole thing together,” he said. “We’ll be delivering the first of those fixtures pretty soon. We expect that, as we kind of roll through that successfully, they’ll look around and see there are other things we can help with.”

SDS will help ensure the Peregrine can reach and safely land on the moon, operate its various payloads, and provide power and communications services unique to each payload.

“We recently commemorated the 50th anniversary of our first landing on the moon, a journey that began here on Long Island,” Zinghini said. “It’s an honor to now be part of the vibrant Pittsburgh tech community, where our long-overdue return to the lunar surface will originate.”

For more on the Peregrine lander, see Astrobotic.com.