In February, Compunetix and CEO Dr. Giorgio Coraluppi, were notified that they would be inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame at the Space Foundation’s 36th Annual Space Symposium, this Fall, in Colorado Springs. As one of three organizations inducted in 2020, Compunetix will be honored for the company’s role in designing, developing and commercializing sophisticated and scalable collaborative voice communication platforms for NASA space missions.
Recently, NASA’s Technology Transfer Program highlighted the working history between Compunetix and NASA. Their relationship dates back to the 1980’s when NASA needed a large communications upgrade at its Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. At that time, Compunetix was hired to fulfill the agency’s request for a 4,000 port digital communications system that would instantly connect people within multiple, interchangeable groups across distant physical locations. By 1992, Compunetix installed two new digital systems for voice switching and voice distribution (VSS and VDS), which allowed voice connections and conference loops to be reconfigured automatically. Prior to that, dozens of highly skilled technicians were required to move cables between ports but the new mission control conference systems enabled this to be done instantly, with the push of a button.
Outside of NASA, Compunetix has repurposed their scalable conferencing technology, over the years, for other crucial businesses and applications across the globe. Michael Hockenberry, Manager of the Federal Systems Division at Compunetix recalls that system “became the foundation for our communications systems division and the basis for the products and services the company offers to this day.” Director of Marketing, Robert Haley adds that Compunetix “took the technology from that large 4,000-port NASA system, and we really reconfigured it and commercialized it and took it directly to the commercial telecom market. We’ve never slowed down since then.”
To read the entire article from the NASA Technology Transfer Program, Click HERE.
