Downrange
MSMF 2009 Volume: 2 Issue: 5 (October)
Kestrel Eye is a 20-pound nano-imaging satellite being designed under the sponsorship of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Kestrel Eye will fill a vital gap in battlefield situational awareness not currently provided by national asset reconnaissance satellites, which cannot provide imagery timely enough to be tactically useful. “Kestrel Eye will be taskable directly by the warfighter under fire and transmit 1.5-meter resolution images directly to his backpackable ground station. A constellation of 30 satellites will provide global 24/7 coverage,” Steve Fujikawa, president, IntelliTech Microsystems Inc., told MSMF.
The Kestrel Eye program is focused on affordability. To populate such a large constellation, the system must be very low-cost, on the order of only $1 million per satellite. Fujikawa noted that the development of Kestrel Eye is enabled by the use of COTS components. “For example, the attitude determination and control system is the off-the-shelf IMI-200, which provides 3-axis, zero momentum, attitude control. Similarly the camera, communications system, and electronics stack are commercial units.
The Kestrel Eye critical design review (CDR) is scheduled for October 2009. “Coincident with that will be delivery to the Army of a Flatsat avionics test bed consisting of the camera and image transmission system, command and data handling system, electrical power system, and attitude determination and control system. Major structural elements such as the avionics deck, solar arrays and deployment mechanism have already been designed and prototyped,” pointed out Fujikawa. Performance of the 10-inch telescope has recently been demonstrated by live test.
The ensuing 12 months after CDR will integrate the avionics and payload into the spacecraft bus. “Kestrel Eye will be ready for launch in 2011,” concluded Fujikawa.
Kestrel Eye has been identified as a priority for the Army by the Requirements Determination Directorate at Fort Huachuca. Kestrel Eye is being developed in partnership of IntelliTech Microsystems of Bowie, Md., and Quantum Research of Huntsville, Ala., under the COSMIC contract.
Steve Fujikawa:
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AEHF Satellite Thermal Testing Completed
The first of a new generation of military communications satellites built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Air Force has successfully completed final thermal vacuum testing at the company’s Sunnyvale, Calif., facilities.
The Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) program will provide global, highly secure, protected, survivable communications for all warfighters serving under the U.S. Department of Defense. The AEHF constellation will also serve international partners including Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
“The final thermal vacuum testing of the first AEHF satellite 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,” reported a company statement. The document added, “The successful test demonstrated spacecraft performance and functionality in a complete testlike- you-fly environment where the satellite was stressed at the extreme hot and cold temperatures it will experience in space throughout its 14-year design life.”
Lockheed Martin Space Systems, the AEHF prime contractor, and Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, the payload supplier, will perform final integrated spacecraft and system test activities necessary to prepare the vehicle for delivery to the Air Force in 2010.
Steve Tatum: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Samantha Um:
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Concept Studies for Air and Missile Defense Radar Under Way
The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman firm-fixedprice contracts to perform concept studies for the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), a scalable solid-state radar suite for future surface combatants. The AMDR is envisioned to be the successor to Aegis.
Comprising an S-band, active electronically scanned array, an X-band array element and a Radar Suite Controller (RSC), AMDR is intended to significantly enhance a ship’s defensive capability against advanced anti-ship and ballistic missile threats. The AMDR contracts will focus on the S-band radar and RSC during this six-month concept studies phase. The Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C., leads the procurement for AMDR.
The next phase of AMDR is expected to begin in 2010. ♦