New Californian Expertise Center, New Solutions
Norcross, GA –
As aerospace programs accelerate and new mobility platforms emerge, proximity and technical agility are becoming essential. Safran Defense & Space, Inc. (Safran DSI) Testing & Telemetry (T&T) business unit has expanded its U.S. presence in Orange County, California to better support this evolution.
The new Costa Mesa office serves as a dedicated customer experience center, offering live demonstrations and hands-on technical engagement. By bringing together engineering expertise and sales support in one location, Safran DSI enables direct, real-time interaction to address integration challenges early and effectively.
Safran DSI works alongside organizations supporting vertical lift, advanced flight test, missile systems, launch vehicles, and hypersonic and supersonic platforms throughout the program lifecycle, whether customers are conducting initial flight test activities or transitioning systems into production and operational use.
At the same time, continued investment in U.S.-based manufacturing in Norcross, Georgia, ensures that advanced, American-made data solutions remain aligned with evolving program requirements.
This expanded footprint is not only about proximity. It reflects a broader shift in the aerospace landscape. As new mobility platforms redefine aircraft architecture, they are also redefining how instrumentation and telemetry solutions must be designed, deployed, and integrated.
HOW NEW MOBILITY PLATFORMS ARE PROMOTING INNOVATION
Traditionally, flight test solutions were developed for large aircraft platforms, where space, cabling, and bulky equipment were not major constraints. Today, however, rapid technological advancement is reshaping the aerospace landscape, and with it, the realities of flight testing.
Flight test engineers now face recurring challenges: limited installation space, complex wiring architectures, constrained power availability, and increasingly compact airframes. Our skies are no longer composed solely of traditional fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. They are increasingly populated by Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) platforms and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), which introduce a fundamentally different set of design constraints.
These next-generation platforms still require telemetry and instrumentation, but the industry must adapt its approach. AAM aircraft, particularly eVTOLs, are engineered to be extremely compact, weight-optimized, aerodynamically efficient, and highly integrated. Every cubic inch and every pound directly impact battery capacity, range, payload, and overall performance. When test equipment is oversized or heavy, it competes with critical systems, especially energy storage, and can significantly affect mission viability.
As a result, the industry must develop new, modular, and scalable flight test solutions tailored to these emerging platforms. The level of data precision, integration, and robustness required for an eVTOL differs significantly from that of a traditional fighter aircraft, particularly in terms of weight constraints and power management. The solution requires rethinking architecture, power management, and data acquisition strategies to align with the operational realities of modern AAM and UAS platforms.
MICROMA: NON-INTRUSIVE MODULAR DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM
Safran DSI’s microMA offers a modular, wireless, and ultra-compact design that enables quick, non-intrusive deployment in harsh environments. microMA’s synchronized, battery-powered nodes simplify data acquisition, proving effective across troubleshooting, final assembly line testing, flight test instrumentation expansion, and predictive maintenance.
CAR: SOFTWARE-BASED RECORDER
Safran DSI developed CAR (Common Access Recorder), a software-based recorder ideal for the eVTOL, UAS, and startup markets. CAR records streaming Chapter 10 and IRIG218 network data to Chapter 10 files and can also capture network traffic, storing it in PCAP files. Safran DSI T&T is working to implement TmNS and other advanced protocols. With its mission-based approach, operators can launch pre-configured setups at the touch of a button. CAR supports simultaneous recording, monitoring, and control from a single interface and is compatible with Linux (ARM and x86 architectures) and Windows, ensuring broad accessibility and low integration barriers.
