Downrange
Lockheed Martin announced that the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) military communications satellite is now undergoing thermal vacuum testing at the company’s Sunnyvale, Calif., facilities.
The Air Force’s Advanced EHF system will provide global, highly secure, protected, survivable communications for warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms.
“One of the most significant program milestones, thermal vacuum testing will verify Advanced EHF spacecraft functionality and performance in a vacuum environment where the satellite is stressed at the extreme hot and cold temperatures it will experience in space throughout its 14-year design life,” said a statement provided to MSMF.
Advanced EHF thermal vacuum testing is conducted in Lockheed Martin’s dual entry large thermal altitude (DELTA) chamber and is one of several critical environmental test phases that validate the overall satellite design, quality of workmanship and survivability during space vehicle launching and on-orbit operations.
The spacecraft is planned for delivery to the Air Force in 2011 in preparation for launch aboard an Atlas V launch vehicle.
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GPS OCX Teams Report Successful Demonstrations
Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated command and control of a U.S. Air Force Global Positioning System (GPS) IIR-M satellite using its Next Generation Operational Control Segment (OCX) engineering model.
The OCX modernization effort will provide mission enterprise control support for the nation’s existing GPS Block II and future Block III satellites. The GPS control segment includes satellite command and control, mission planning, constellation management, monitoring stations and ground antennas.
The Northrop Grumman team used its GPS OCX modernized capability engineering model (MCEM) to successfully command and control a satellite test simulator located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, from a Northrop Grumman plant in Redondo Beach, Calif.
“The next milestone for the Northrop Grumman team is to provide the GPS Wing, when requested, our proposal to develop, deploy and sustain OCX for the Air Force to command and control the GPS satellite constellation,” George Seffers, Northrop Grumman spokesperson, told MSMF. The formal activities for this part of the OCX competition called “Phase A” began in November 2007 and will come to completion this May. “The Air Force will award the development activities for OCX called ‘Phase B’ to the winning contractor of ‘Phase A’ later this year,” he added.
For its part, Raytheon successfully completed two significant milestones for GPS OCX.
The segment design review was a comprehensive review of the team’s progress in systems engineering, systems architecture and program management. Successful completion demonstrates that the design is sufficiently mature and the level of residual risk is acceptable to proceed to the program’s next phase.
The Raytheon-led industry team demonstrated the ability to command modernized GPS signals, provide situational awareness and expose data on the network through the modernized capability engineering model demonstration. The Raytheon team also demonstrated time-certain delivery by achieving all model objectives on time and within budget.
“The Raytheon team will continue on sustainment activities until the contract is awarded sometime in July,” Keith Little, Raytheon spokesperson, told MSMF.
The Northrop Grumman OCX team includes Harris Corp., Melbourne, Fla.; Integral Systems Inc., Lanham, Md.; Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Services of Gaithersburg, Md., and Infinity Systems Engineering of Colorado Springs, Colo.
The Raytheon OCX team consists of Raytheon Co., ITT, Boeing, Infinity Engineering Systems, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, SRI International and Braxton Technologies.
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Directed Energy Advancements
White Sands Missile Range is testing a new weapon system known as the Laser Centurion Demonstrator.
The system, developed by Raytheon, combines proven radar and threat-detection technology with the latest in laser weapons. This demonstration model is intended to prove the capabilities and effectiveness of the new laser weapon as part of the Laser Area Defense Systems program, officials said in a U.S. Army statement obtained by MSMF.
The new laser system is designed to replace the 20 mm cannon on the Navy’s Phalanx system and the Army’s Centurion system. The integration of an advanced directed energy weapon into an existing conventional weapon system helps keep the system’s costs down as well as allows an easier transition from one system to another, officials said.
The Phalanx is an air and missile-defense system used on nearly every ship in the fleet. Converted to be transported and fired from a trailer, it is also used by the Army under the name Centurion to provide defense from air and missile threats as well as defense against mortar and artillery attacks. As an upgrade to the Phalanx and Centurion, the laser system is a program that is jointly funded by the Navy and Army. Other services are also interested in the laser itself for possible integration into other weapon systems.
Initial tests with the demonstrator have been positive. The laser has proven capable of rapidly penetrating armor plating even when not at full power, and system setup has been very easy.
The Laser Centurion will fill the same role as the conventional cannon-equipped version while providing a commander with more options and capabilities, officials said. The laser-based system will still be able to engage targets like mortars, rockets and missiles, but without the drawbacks of limited ammunition. Also, since the laser does not use any kind of solid shot like the cannon, it can be used to better defend populated areas without the fear of the “20 mm shower” that conventional air defense guns cause when their bullets fall back to earth.
TSAT Contract Extensions
Boeing received a $75 million contract extension from the Air Force to continue risk reduction and system definition (RR&SD) for the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT).
This additional award brings Boeing’s total TSAT contract funding to $793 million. Boeing’s TEAM TSAT consists of Cisco, Hughes, IBM, Harris Corp., Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., LGS Innovations, Raytheon, General Dynamics C4 Systems, L-3 Communications, BBN Technologies, EMS Technologies, SAIC and Innovative Communications Engineering (ICE).
The Air Force also awarded the Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman TSAT Space Segment Team a $75 million, six-month extension to its (RR&SD) contract. The team will focus on delivering an interim design review (IDR) in early April 2009 for the initial TSAT satellite constellation, known as Block 10. Under the restructured program, the initial increment of TSAT will consist of five Block 10 satellites and associated ground control systems with a first launch capability by 2019.
The IDR will verify the maturity of the updated space segment specification, demonstrate that the team’s design meets performance requirements and analyze other system acquisition and operations activities including life cycle costs, plans to enter the production phase, and approaches to eliminating risks throughout the program’s life. The review will detail plans for testing of various products, verification of system performance, and compliance with government requirements including overall security of the system.
In addition, the team will continue to mature the technologies demonstrated during earlier RR&SD milestones to verify their readiness for full-scale development, manufacturing, integration and operations.
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