Heico subsidiary plays critical role in comet landing

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Laurans A. Mendelson is chairman and CEO of Heico Corp.

Celia Ampel

Reporter- South Florida Business Journal

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A South Florida company has its place in history after helping a European Space Agency robotic probe explore the surface of a comet.

3D Plus, a subsidiary of Hollywood-based Heico Corp. (NYSE:HEI), provided six micro-cameras that will take panoramic photos of the comet's surface.

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The Paris-based subsidiary also supplied a computer in the Philae robotic probe and one micro-camera and computer inside the Rosetta spacecraft that traveled 310 million miles from Earth to land on the comet Wednesday.

"Once again, our fellow Heico team members have us overflowing with pride," Heico CEO and chairman Laurans A. Mendelson said in a news release. "3D Plus has repeatedly supplied successful and critical components on important space missions."

Heico Corp., which makes jet engines and parts, is one of South Florida's 30 largest public companies, according to the Business Journal's Top 50 Public Companies list. The company had $1 billion in 2013 revenues.

Celia Ampel covers technology, startups, venture capital and angel investment. Stay on top of the latest venture news with our free daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe.