New Way of Doing Business in Space
Written by Robert P. McCoy, Ph.D. and Larry Schuette, Ph.D.
MSMF 2009 Volume: 2 Issue: 6 (November/December)
The Navy is permanently forward deployed and at sea; the primary information path to and from the fleet is from space. The classified and unclassified Internet connectivity the DoD relies on so heavily can only be delivered to shipboard from space. The Navy depends on space systems for:
• Communications;
• Precision navigation and timing;
• Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance;
• Meteorology and oceanography;
• Missile defense;
• Precision targeting; and even
• Morale and welfare.
A day at sea without access to space means no satellite communication or Internet; no Global Positioning System navigation and no synchronization for encryption systems; no weather data; no friendly force or targeting information beyond the line of sight; and no personal e-mail home to family. Arguably, the Navy is the biggest user and customer of space products, but the Navy depends on the Air Force and IC to develop and operate the vast majority of space systems the Navy needs. The Navy builds and flies geosynchronous satellite communication including the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Follow-On and soon the Mobile User Objective System satellites. Over 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is water, and maritime space needs frequently involve open ocean searches, broad coverage and operations far over the Pacific where satellite operators often shut down systems to charge batteries and perform maintenance.
The question regarding naval space needs became more focused in 2004 when the Air Force was designated by the secretary of defense as the executive agent (EA) for space. The Navy was not precluded from acquiring its own space systems to meet maritime needs, but the current price tag for new space systems can easily run into the billions of dollars, and development times can take a decade or more. Senior Navy leadership convened several study panels to investigate the situation and make recommendations, all of which came up with similar recommendations:
• Strengthen the naval space cadre; and
• Increase investment in naval space science and technology (S & T).
In the past five years several steps have been taken to strengthen the naval space cadre, and investments in naval space S & T have increased. A major obstacle is the recurring cost and time barrier of billions of dollars per decade to field new space systems. Unfortunately, throughout the last decade, the U.S. space enterprise has suffered from a variety of ailments and has become so risk averse that many systems cost more than a billion dollars and more than one program faces the threat of termination under the Nunn-McCurdy Amendment. It has become too obvious for some time across the DoD that “Space costs too much and takes too long.”
A NEW WAY FORWARD: TACTICAL SPACE EXPERIMENTATION
In 2003, the late Vice Admiral Art Cebrowski (Ret.), director, Office of Force Transformation, set out to break down the cost and schedule barriers for fielding new space capabilities and initiated Operationally Responsive Space experimentation with TacSats 1 and 2. He challenged the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to see how quickly and cheaply a militarily relevant space capability could be delivered to space, and funded NRL to build and launch a 100 kg microsatellite called TacSat 1. NRL modified an existing microsatellite bus and adapted a tactical signals electronics payload designed for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). NRL used several innovations including airborne electronics housed in pressurized boxes for thermal stability and radiation protection in space and completed the flight ready satellite in less than 12 months for less than $25 million including the rocket, satellite and payload. The TacSat 1 development philosophy was to maximize speed to completion at minimal cost—accepting risks not usually considered for spaceflight development. Delays with a new commercial small launch vehicle prevented launching TacSat 1. In 2006 AFRL built and launched the TacSat 2 aboard a Minotaur I rocket. TacSat 2 carried multiple payloads including a panchromatic imager and a copy of the TacSat 1 payload augmented with an automatic identification system (AIS) receiver to locate and identify large ships.
In 2005, the DoD EA for Space, Peter Teets, asked AFRL and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to partner in the development of an entire series of TacSats to demonstrate that small, low-cost satellites could be developed and launched quickly and could provide useful tactical capabilities to theater commanders. Subsequent missions for TacSats 3, 4 and 5 have been developed by AFRL and NRL (the latter with ONR sponsorship). The TacSat 3 satellite built by AFRL and carrying their hyperspectral imager and ONR data exfiltration payload was successfully launched aboard a Minotaur I rocket in May 2009 from Wallops Island, Va. The NRL-built TacSat 4 satellite payload is scheduled to launch aboard a Minotaur IV rocket next year from Kodiak, Alaska.
None of the TacSats were designed to have capabilities that rivaled the exquisite, big space systems but were designed to be “good enough” or, as General Kevin Chilton, commander, USSTRATCOM, coined, “good enough to win.” An important distinction for TacSats is that they were developed as prototypes for tactical systems for ultimate use by joint force commanders to meet in-theater needs and not as a national asset. This meant that TacSats would normally be launched into an inclined orbit matched to the latitude of a combatant commander (COCOM) to maximize the coverage over that region of interest. To make these satellites more like a UAV the TacSats would use commanding and telemetry systems compatible with UAV systems already in theater. By focusing on a theater, rather than trying to provide a global capability, significant levels of persistence could be provided. TacSat 4 will be launched into a four-hour high Earth orbit to an apogee of more than 12,000 km. Ultimately, a constellation of three or four small TacSat 4-like satellites could provide 24/7 coverage to a theater. Similarly, a constellation of five or six low-cost, low Earth orbiting tactical satellites in inclined orbits could provide high levels of theater persistence with gaps of only 30 minutes per day.
NAVAL TACSATS EXPERIMENTAL PAYLOADS
In 2006 ONR initiated the Tactical Space Innovative Naval Prototype (INP) program and invested roughly $15 million per year to build TacSat and TacSatlike payloads to demonstrate technologies in space to meet maritime needs. Under the INP program several maritime payloads were developed including: a UHF communication on the move payload with blue force tracking and data exfiltration on TacSat 4; a tactical signals collection and AIS payload for (TacSat 2); the Ocean Data Telemetry Microsatellite Link payload for two-way data exfiltration with buoys and unattended sensors (TacSats 3 and 4); and a maritime hyperspectral imager. The DoD Space Test Program funded spaceflight for the hyperspectral imager through a joint program with NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to put payloads on the International Space Station. In all, six payloads were built under the INP program and all will be in orbit undergoing test and military utility assessment by the end of 2010.
OPERATIONALLY RESPONSIVE SPACE
On December 21, 2004, the White House issued a National Space Policy (National Security Presidential Directive- 40) directing the United States to “before 2010” demonstrate an initial capability for operationally responsive access to and use of space to support national security requirements. In 2007 Congress (in Section 913 (b) of the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2007 (Public Law 109-364)) directed the DoD to establish the Joint Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Program Office with the mission to:
• Contribute to the development of low cost, rapid reaction payloads, buses, spacelift, and launch control capabilities in order to fulfill joint military operational requirements for on-demand space support and reconstitution.
• Coordinate and execute operationally responsive space efforts across the Department of Defense with respect to planning, acquisition and operations.
The 2007 Defense Act further directed the ORS office to “demonstrate, acquire and deploy a capability for operationally responsive space in support of military users and operations” and challenged the ORS office to achieve a unit cost for launch services to low Earth orbit of less than $20 million each with a procurement cost of an integrated satellite of less than $40 million (both in constant dollars).
On May 17, 2007, the deputy secretary of defense directed the establishment of the ORS office under the authority and control of the DoD EA for space. Through the Operationally Responsive Space Initial Concept of Operations, he also directed that ORS develop an implementation plan that meets the requirements of the USSTRATCOM Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for ORS. From that CONOPS, the primary goal of the ORS office is to assure the ability to respond to operational needs by reconfiguring, augmenting, replacing or replenishing existing space assets. Three tiers of responsiveness for the office were described: Tier 1—novel employment of existing space assets (DoD, IC, other U.S. government, commercial and international) within a time span of hours to 1 day; Tier 2—deployment of new or additional capabilities to be developed, tested and pre-positioned for launch within a week of call-up; and Tier 3—rapid development of new and unanticipated capabilities that would be made available for launch within a year.
The ORS office is developing the infrastructure, architectures, designs, standards, modular buses, payloads and commanding/telemetry systems, collectively known as “ORS Enablers” needed to achieve the tiered goals within the congressional goal of $60 million per launch. Mission areas of interest include: surveillance and reconnaissance (electro- optical, radar and synthetic aperture radar), communication, tactical electronic warfare, and space situational awareness. The office is investing to adapt and use existing UAV systems for command and control (C2) and tasking processing exploitation and dissemination (TPED) such that ORS satellites in many ways will function in much the same way UAVs, as currently employed worldwide by COCOMs.
The ORS office strategy is to work with industry, DoD and other government agencies to develop the architectures and designs for small satellites including launch and range infrastructure, C2, TPED responsive satellite buses and payloads. Also under development is a series of ORS satellites to demonstrate Tier 2 capabilities across a wide spectrum of DoD mission areas and ultimate transition to the services for acquisition of multiple copies of responsive spacecraft.
HOW DOES THE NAVY LEVERAGE ORS?
If the ORS office is successful in developing families of modular, rapidly launched small satellites the Navy stands to benefit greatly if it can develop a wide range of ORS-type mission kits to address maritime needs. The Navy will have the opportunity to test new technologies and ultimately procure and store multiple copies of mission kits for response to urgent COCOM needs. There is a long list of potential small satellite applications including: maritime domain awareness and tracking ships from space; new technologies for the emerging threat from piracy; wide-area surveillance and open ocean search (radar and electro-optical); anti-jam communication and navigation; anti-submarine warfare; technologies for mine warfare; tactical maritime signals collection; and many other existing and emerging needs.
In 2008, the former secretary of the Navy, Donald Winters, highlighted the success of the ONR Space INP program and asked ONR to continue space science and technology investment for the foreseeable future to meet current and future Naval maritime needs. The partnership between the ORS office, ONR, NRL and AFRL is actively exploring new frontiers to develop a new way for the Navy to do business in space to ensure that maritime needs of current and future warfighters are met. ♦
Editor’s note: Dr. Robert P. McCoy is the Office of Naval Research Space Research lead and technical director, Operationally Responsive Space Office. Dr. Larry Schuette is director of Innovation, Office of Naval Research.