NSS Report
Written by Marty Kauchak
progress at the 25th National Space Symposium.
“We sold out the exhibit hall sooner than we ever had—in February to 140 companies—and the exhibit hall is full,” Janet Stevens, director, communications and public outreach, Space Foundation, told MSMF. This year’s symposium was a success by another metric: the increased international perspective. “Having the Chinese delegation for us was an absolute thrill and a very positive experience for them as well. They were really gratified by the warm reception they got and the interest in them,” Stevens said.
The MSMF staff attended the symposium and gained insights into the business, technology and other underpinnings of the community’s programs.
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENTS
The Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) Block 10 space vehicle, as part of the U.S. Air Force’s Space Surveillance Network (SSN), will detect, track and monitor distant space objects without interference from weather, atmosphere or time of day. Prime contractor Boeing is supplying system engineering and integration, and the ground segment. Ball Aerospace is providing the space vehicle, which contains a Boeing-built, on-board mission data processor.
A key system feature is the two-axis, beryllium gimbal, which mounts the payload to the satellite bus. “That provides a very unique agility, rapid scan and rapid repositioning of the payload to conduct the mission,” explained Fred Doyle, vice president and general manager, National Defense, Ball Aerospace. And it is the gimbal and onboard processor that will help provide significant improvements in sensitivity, capacity and other capabilities over previous space-based SSN sensors. “These are both very flexible design features. We have the ability to upload additional software and enhance the performance of the asset once it has been launched,” Todd Citron, director of space superiority and special missions, Boeing, told MSMF.
“We’re in the final stages of completing the system,” Citron added. The SBSS vehicle launch was expected at press time.
In 2008, Lieutenant General Kevin Campbell, commander, U.S. Army and Missile Defense Command/Army Strategic Command and commander, Joint Functional Component Command–Integrated Missile Defense, announced his plan to examine the potential benefits of smaller, yet capable, satellites. Miltec is meeting this service customer’s requirement by developing and designing a technology demonstration program. “This involves eight nano-satellite vehicles within an operationally responsive tier-3 timeline,” said Brian Pletcher, nanosat development spokesman, Miltec. “We are preparing to deliver those eight, fully flight-qualified and -certified vehicles on April 28 at our facility in Huntsville,” he added.
The vehicles are 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) by 10 cm by 34 cm and will be constrained to five kilograms (11 pounds) or less in weight.
During the symposium, the nation’s attention shifted to monitoring a planned launch of a North Korean communications satellite. AGI used its software products to model the possible path and debris hazards, eventual orbit and possible sensors that would observe the event.
“In the classified area, they [AGI’s government customers] have asked us to show them how to better use the tools to do the analysis,” Dr. Sal Alfano, senior research astrodynamicist, Center for Space Standards and Innovation and AGI, told MSMF.
AGI and the center also used the company’s tools to provide unclassified, open-source scenarios and background information on the event. “You can build mission components in [STK]/Astrogator and thread them together as far as staging, and what you want the missile to do next, how long it will take. You can search for optimal solutions or a whole family of solutions,” he added.
For its part, Aerojet delivers a diverse portfolio of propellants, engines and other propulsion system subcomponents for DoD and commercial customers. Julie Van Kleek, vice president, space programs, Aerojet, noted during a discussion with MSMF about the state of the art of propulsion, that one of her company’s key R&D efforts involves controllable solids technology. “That’s probably one of the more advanced propulsion developments that is going on right now. You have a very confined space. You are dealing with a very high temperature gas. You have electronics, a closed-loop control system and actuators—and all of these are in a pretty tiny, tight package. The type of responses you are looking for are pretty incredible. Trying to package all of that into a lightweight package is challenging. And then controlling the solid, because the solid has its own variability just by the nature of being a solid. That is a very advanced technology.”
In March, the Missile Defense Agency and the Army completed a successful intercept of a ballistic missile target during a test of the THAAD missile defense element. A key member of the Lockheed Martin-led THAAD industry team is Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR), which delivers the propulsion system for THAAD divert and attitude control system.
At this point in the program, PWR is not looking at any radical design or technical changes in its propulsion units, but rather evolving the process of building the hardware, Ron Ramos, vice president, exploration and missile defense systems, PWR, told MSMF.
“Ultimately we want to move to higher rates of production. As we do that we want to move it into an easier-to-build system where can we turn them out at rates that for our type of business are not common. We are in the business of building large, liquid rocket engines. If we build six or seven a year, we think that is really great. In this program, what we are ultimately hoping for is to build 12, 15 or 20 per month—and that’s if we ever get into foreign military sales and U.S. production at the same time. That’s somewhat nontraditional for us in terms of quantity.” PWR’s THAAD production processes, including ways that it fabricates and assembles the hardware, would be “very repeatable, very easy to build, very high quality and ultimately very low cost,” Ramos concluded.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
During the symposium, BAE Systems announced a contract to develop a new radar warning receiver prototype that can identify radio frequency and communications activity in real time. The effort supports the Air Force’s Satellite Awareness and Protection program, an initiative to develop better mechanisms to warn and protect satellites against attack.
“What we have now basically detects all the radars that are on the earth. What they [Air Force] are paying us for now is to ‘open it up’—covering all types of radars, much higher frequency radars,” Eric Rhodes, business development manger, BAE Systems, said. “This is a remarkable improvement,” he added.
AGI and Integral Systems also announced their new strategic partnership. This is a natural alliance that will permit the government customer to take advantage of the team’s COTS products and practices to deliver space situational awareness capability. ♦