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Archives by category > Outer Space (RSS)

Budget Busters: The USA’s SBIRS-High Missile Warning Satellites

Feb 21, 2019 04:58 UTC DII

Latest updates[?]: The US Air Force contracted United Launch Services with $441.8 million for launch services to deliver the Silent Barker, BIRS GEO-5, and SBIRS GEO-6 missions to their intended orbits. United Launch Services is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing that provides launch services for aircrafts and missiles. Silent Barker is a classified space situational awareness program by the Air Force Space Command and the National Reconnaissance Office. SBIRS (Space Based Infra Red Sensor) GEO is the geostationary component of the SBIRS-High program. The SBIRS-High satellite program is a key component of the USA’s future missile alert system, designed to give maximum warning and monitoring of ballistic missile launches anywhere in the world. The current contract will include launch vehicle production, mission integration, mission launch operations/spaceflight worthiness, and mission unique activities for Silent Barker and SBIRS GEO-5, with an option for an additional SBIRS GEO-6 launch service. Work will be performed at Centennial, Colorado; and Cape Canaveral, Florida. Silent Barker is expected to be completed by March 2022, and SBIRS GEO-5 is expected to be completed by March 2021. The Air Force divided $739 million in launch contracts between United Launch Services and SpaceX for six national security missions slated for 2021-2022.

SBIRS-High

SBIRS-High

The Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS)-High satellite program is a key component of the USA’s future missile alert system, designed to give maximum warning and monitoring of ballistic missile launches anywhere in the world. The new satellites will replace the existing Defense Support Program (DSP) fleet. Their infrared sensors have 3x the sensitivity of DSP and 2x the revisit rate, while providing better persistent coverage.

Unfortunately, the program has been beset by massive cost overruns on the order of 400%, technical challenges that continue to present problems, and uncertainties about performance. Despite these problems, the U.S. Air Force is proceeding with the program, and has terminated potential alternatives and supplements. However, as part of a January 2015 effort to institute cost reforms, the Air Force will weaken requirements for the program, and at least three other major procurement programs.

Continue Reading… »

Space Based Space Surveillance: Follow On Needed

Dec 13, 2018 04:54 UTC DII

Latest updates[?]: Boeing is being awarded with a contract modification to sustain the US Air Force's Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) Block 10 system. Worth $22.7 million the modification exercises a contract option for sustainment and required development to keep the SBSS running. Required efforts include systems engineering, operations, operations support, and contractor logistics support. SBSS is intended to detect and track space objects, such as satellites, anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons, and orbital debris, providing information to the US DoD as well as NASA. The Block 10 satellite operates 24-hours a day, 7-days a week collecting metric and Space Object Identification data for man-made orbiting objects without the disruption of weather, time of day and atmosphere that can limit ground-based systems. Work will be performed at Boeing's factory in El Segundo, California and in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Performance is expected to be completed by June 2022.

SBSS_Concept

SBSS Constellation
(click to view larger)

In January 2001, a commission headed by then US Defense Secretary-designate Donald Rumsfeld warned about a possible “space Pearl Harbor” in which a potential enemy would launch a surprise attack against US-based military space assets, disabling them. These assets include communications satellites and the GPS system, which is crucial for precision attack missiles and a host of military systems.

“The US is more dependent on space than any other nation. Yet the threat to the US and its allies in and from space does not command the attention it merits,” the commission warned.

One of the systems that grew out of the commission’s report was the Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) project, which is developing a constellation of satellites to provide the US military with space situational awareness using visible sensors. After a slow start, SBSS Block 10 reached a significant milestone in August 2012 with its Initial Operational Capability, followed by full operational capability less than a year later. But lack of funding casts as shadow on whether this capability will be maintained beyond 2017. By 2014/15 the Air Force worked on a stopgap project as well as an effort to obtain proper funding for follow on satellites to be launched at the start of next decade.

Continue Reading… »

Don’t Touch Their Junk: USAF’s SSA Tracking Space Debris

Sep 30, 2015 00:18 UTC DII

Latest updates[?]: Lockheed Martin's Space Fence system has passed an Air Force Critical Design Review, according to a company press release. Passing the CDR now means that the full-scale Space Fence System radar and facilities can be constructed on Kwajalein Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands. Designed to serve as a second-generation space surveillance radar system, the Space Fence will allow the Air Force to track satellites and space debris.
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Space Fence: Mission Control Concept

Space Fence concept

Space is big. Objects in space are very dangerous to each other. Countries that intend to launch objects into space need to know what’s out there, in order to avoid disasters like the 2009 collision of 2 orbital satellites. All they need to do is track many thousands of man-made space objects, traveling at about 9 times the speed of a bullet, and residing in a search area that’s 220,000 times the volume of Earth’s oceans.

The US Air Force Materiel Command’s Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts leads the USA’s Space Fence project. It’s intended to improve space situational awareness by tracking more and smaller objects, while replacing legacy systems in the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) as they retire. With a total anticipated value of around $6.1 billion over its lifetime, Space Fence will deliver a system of 2-3 geographically dispersed ground-based radars to provide timely assessment of space objects, events, and debris. International cooperation will supplement it, as part of overall Space Situational Awareness efforts. Failure is not an option. Or is it?

Continue Reading… »

Skynet 5: UK MoD’s Innovative SATCOM Solution

Sep 16, 2015 00:09 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Airbus is urging the UK's Defence Ministry to fast-track a replacement for the Skynet 5 communications satellites currently leased from the company. With internal wrangling within the MoD over specifications for the Skynet 6 constellation holding up progress, Airbus Defence's boss has reportedly stated that a contract needs to be in place by 2018. The four satellites currently used by the British Armed Forces are the result of a multi-billion pound Private Finance Initiative (PFI) signed in 2003, with the contract set to conclude in 2022. One of the four Skynet 5 satellites was repositioned above the Asia-Pacific region in March to offer spare bandwidth to allied nations.
Satellite Skynet5 Model

Skynet 5 satellite model

When militaries around the world have wanted to expand their satellite communication (SATCOM) capacity, they traditionally have had 2 choices – either pay a satellite manufacturer billions of dollars to build a satellite constellation and then own and operate the constellation themselves or lease capacity on commercial satellites, with all the attendant concerns about availability and security.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) came up with an innovative approach to expanding its SATCOM capacity called Skynet 5.

Through a GBP 3.6 billion UK MoD private finance initiative (PFI), EADS Astrium manufactures the Skynet 5 satellites and Paradigm owns, manages, and operates the Skynet constellation. The satellites are built to UK military specifications and the UK is committed to purchasing satellite capacity from Paradigm, an EADS Astrium subsidiary.

Continue Reading… »

Hypersonic Rocket-Plane Program Inches Along, Stalls, To Restart

Jun 03, 2015 00:40 UTC DII

Latest updates[?]: The Air Force is reportedly working on a new hypersonic test vehicle, with the aim of developing the new vehicle by 2023. The Air Force and DARPA are hoping to build on a previous 2013 test, with the X-51A WaveRider intended to be used as a proof of concept.
HTV progression

FALCON HTVs

The path toward a hypersonic space plane has been a slow one, filled with twists and turns one would expect given the technological leap involved. Speeds of Mach 8+ place tremendous heat and resistance stresses on a craft. Building a vehicle that is both light enough to achieve the speeds desired at reasonable cost, and robust enough to survive those speeds, is no easy task.

Despite the considerable engineering challenges ahead, the potential of a truly hypersonic aircraft for reconnaissance, global strike/ transport, and low-cost access to near-space and space is a compelling goal on both engineering and military grounds. The question, as always, will be balancing the need for funding to prove out new designs and concepts, with risk management that ensures limited exposure if it becomes clear that the challenge is still too great. In October 2008, the US Congress decided that FALCON/Blackswift had reached those limits. That decision led to the program’s cancellation, though some activities will continue.

Continue Reading… »

Requests for Proposals Round Up, Early-September 2011

Sep 02, 2011 15:57 UTC

Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) has recently released the following Requests for Proposals (RFP), modifications and other notifications:

  • The US Navy adds an additional clause and extends the closing date to 9th September for its RFP for a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract for the acquisition of engineering and technical support services for the Virginia Class (SSN 774) submarine and the Ohio Replacement Program (ORP).

Continue Reading… »

Iridium’s NEXT Satellites: Global Reach, New Partnerships

Jun 09, 2011 13:05 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Another Boeing sub-contract.
Iridium

Iridium constellation

Most of us remember Iridium as the Motorola-backed, multi-billion dollar commercial satellite phone flop. The expensive, bulky phones, the $2 per minute airtime charge, and the inability to use the phone inside buildings doomed the project, which came online when the cell phone market was taking off. Despite all these problems, the US military found the low-bandwidth satellites and phones very useful in remote areas. So the Pentagon backed an effort for the constellation to be acquired by investors at a fraction of the original $5 billion development cost, and became the revived satellite company’s largest customer.

Iridium Communications Inc. has been steadily picking up customers beyond the Pentagon. They now have almost 360,000 subscribers, and in 2007, they began planing a second-generation satellite constellation called Iridium NEXT. With launches expected to begin in 2015, Iridium NEXT will offer higher data speeds, flexible bandwidth allocation, and IP-based routing. In the meantime, militaries have found innovative ways to use Iridium’s services, making Iridium NEXT a privately-held but significant space resource for future military operations.

Continue Reading… »

Up to $65M to Maintain Key COBRA DANE Radar

Apr 10, 2011 12:46 UTC

COBRA DANE

COBRA DANE

March 29/11: Raytheon Technical Services Co. in Dulles, VA receives an $11.9 million firm-fixed-price radar operations and maintenance contract modification. The firm will ensure the availability of the COBRA DANE radar facility, to a performance standard that can “collect 100% of the tasked data collection opportunities that pass through its field of view.” Work will be performed in Indianapolis, IN. The AFISRA/A7KRB at Patrick AFB, FL manages the contract (FA7022-11-C-0010).

Raytheon’s April 25/11 release placed the contract total at up to $65 million, but discussions with Raytheon confirmed that their figure included the 4 option years, as well as the initial base year announced by the Pentagon.

The AN/FPS-108 Cobra Dane radar sits on Shemya island in the Alaskan Aleutians. It has a face nearly 100 feet in diameter, and plays a number of key roles within the USA’s advanced long range radar network. One of its most important “tasked data collection opportunities” is its constant monitoring of Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula and Kura ballistic missile test range, hence that 100% requirement. Other key missions include monitoring the growing space hazard of orbital debris, and missile defense monitoring for NORAD and the US Missile Defense Agency.

PanSTARRS: Astronomy & Asteroid Assessment

Jun 30, 2010 12:44 UTC

deep impact

Bruce Willis missed…

Kirkland AFB, NM recently entered into a cooperative effort with the University of Hawaii of Honolulu, Hawaii under the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (PanSTARRS) multi-year program.

PanSTARRS will address numerous science applications ranging from the structure of the Solar System to the properties of the Universe of the largest scales. It will also be able to detect and catalog large numbers of earth-orbit crossing asteroids, or near earth objects (NEO) that present a potential threat to mankind. That last component to the mission is especially intriguing, as there is a long history of partial efforts in this direction within the US and elsewhere. So, where does this award fit in?

  • PanSTARRS and its Predecessors [updated]
  • Contracts & Key Events [updated]
  • Additional Readings [updated]

Continue Reading… »

Modular Space: DARPA’s F6 Program

Apr 27, 2010 17:45 UTC

System_F6_Constellation

System F6 concept

Satellites are currently big, expensive to build and launch, vulnerable, impossible in practice to upgrade on-orbit, difficult to replace – and critical to military effectiveness. That’s a really bad combination. Now add program risk and cost inflation driven by those issues, as the military tries to launch the most advanced technologies it can, in a uniquely ‘no fail’ environment.

DARPA’s System F6 program aims at nothing less than a revolution in satellite technology, aimed at removing those constraints. If successful, it will develop and demonstrate the basic building blocks of a totally new space architecture, in which traditional integrated satellites are replaced by clusters of smaller, cheaper, wirelessly-interconnected space modules that form a “virtual” satellite.

  • Fractionated Space: The F6 Program [updated]
  • Contracts and Key Events [updated]
  • Additional Readings [updated]

Continue Reading… »
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