The U.S. Air Force announced that Lockheed Martin has been selected to continue development of the Innovative Space Based Radar Antenna Technology (ISAT).
The contract, valued at $19.5 million, is for the next phase of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) ISAT project, administrated by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
ISAT is about creating and demonstrating technology for very long space-borne electronically scanning antenna. The full scale antenna payload would be folded up to about the size of a sport utility vehicle, but once deployed in space the antenna’s length would be similar to the height of the Empire State Building (about 300 meters/yards). Such a lightweight and lengthy antenna could significantly increase global persistent surveillance coverage. The demonstration experiment will use an antenna extending about 100 meters (325 feet) in length.
Lockheed Martin will continue development of the ISAT Flight Demonstration Experiment design over the next 14 months, which will take it to the Critical Design Review (CDR) maturity level. Following the CDR, DARPA and the Air Force plan to select a contractor to build and deploy a scale version of the antenna for a one-year proof of technology experiment in low earth orbit. News Release