Local companies in orbit over latest mission to Mars.

As the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter approaches the Red Planet next month, two area businesses will have more than just a passing interest.

A Commerce-based subsidiary of ATK Space Systems Inc., and Camarillo-based Channel Microwave Corp. have their reputations riding as well.

ATK built the tank that houses the $400 million satellite's propellant, and Channel Microwave made a key component that helps protect the orbiter's communication system.

There are two satellites now circling the planet--the Mars Global Surveyor and the Odyssey, launched in 1996 and 2001, respectively. The reconnaissance orbiter will join them in circling the planet and will remain in orbit indefinitely. However, making it to Mars is enough of an accomplishment, putting it in orbit will be an even tougher task.

"So far, America is two for four in regards to Mars," said Howard Eisen, the flight systems manager for the satellite at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. "This is far from a sure thing and we see just getting there as a Success."

The orbiter, launched in August and set to arrive March 10, will provide a big technology upgrade to the existing systems and will work in unison with the two older satellites. With four tons of equipment on board, the Lockheed Martin Co. satellite will provide copious amounts of data and ultra-high resolution photos of the Martian surface.

The satellite will spend the first two years circling the planet monitoring the seasons and atmosphere. After that, it will use its sensors to acquire unprecedented detailed information about what lies beneath the surface.

To scope out potential landing spots for future missions, the orbiter will utilize the most powerful telescopic camera ever to monitor another planet and a communications system that allows truckloads of data acquired to be shot back and forth through the 134 million miles between Earth and Mars--10 times faster than the system currently in place.

All of that equipment is protected by a Channel Microwave-made device called an isolator, about the size of a harmonica with a cost of about $1,000 for a basic model. These inexpensive yet invaluable components essentially block unwanted microwave transmissions from ruining the sensitive on-board equipment.

"There's a lot of microwave activity up there in space," said Ken Boswell, the vice president of engineering for Channel Microwave. "Essentially, you can look at these guys like they're satellite insurance."

The company was founded 20 years ago by three former Jet Propulsion Lab engineers and generates $5 million a year in revenues, with most of its sales coming from isolators sold to the military, cellular phone companies and other communications companies. It received a $50,000 contract from Lockheed to supply two special isolators to the orbiter.

This is not the first time that Channel has produced parts for space missions. The company has made them for most of the later Apollo missions, the International Space Station as well as most military satellites--though they're not completely understood even by Channel.

"I'll admit it, there's a little bit of black magic involved," Boswell said laughing. "These isolators are made with special ceramics that do weird things with microwave signals. We don't know how they work. We just know that they do."

Meanwhile, the orbiter is being propelled to Mars using a tank made by ATK-PSI Operations, a unit of ATK, a $2.4 billion advanced weapon and space systems company with approximately 13,500 employees and operations in 23 states. ATK-PSI is based in a 104,000-square-foot facility in Commerce.

Satellites require very little fuel while traveling to their destination, but when they arrive, they need a good deal of fuel for the booster rockets that slow their descent onto the surface of planets. Making sure fuel is available for the boosters is a priority for ATK's system.

Long-distance satellites use liquid fuels because of inherent advantages over solid fuel. But gas propellants, like nitrogen, require ultra pressurized tanks--around 10,000-pounds-per-square-inch--in order to be effective, and they often leak.

The orbiter's fuel system and storage tank, which holds 379 gallons of hydrazine, is made of titanium and costs around $500,000. It's designed to keep liquid available to the booster in a zero-gravity environment.

"I'm not trying to make it sound like it's easy or oversimplify it, but we've made thousands of these systems for just about everything that goes into space," said Walter Tam, an ATK spokesman. "Up in space, liquid acts differently because there's no gravity, and these systems are very crucial but relatively simple."