September 29, 2021 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
Space Force awards $88 million in contracts for launch system prototyping
The contracts will help launch providers develop transformational capabilities, according to the Space Force.
September 4, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Air Force Research Laboratory announces new space experiments
by Sandra Erwin
AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate will study the physics of very low Earth orbit, and will pursue sensor technologies for cislunar space
WASHINGTON — The Air Force Research Laboratory announced Sept. 2 it will pursue two new space experiments — one will test the performance of satellite instruments in low orbits and the other is to advance sensor technology to monitor cislunar space
The experiments are run by AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.
Col. Eric Felt, the director of the Space Vehicles Directorate, said 27 teams submitted proposals and the two projects that won address important areas of space that impact national security.
The experiment known as “Precise” will study the physics of very low Earth orbit, or VLEO, which extends from 90 to 600 kilometers aboveEarth. AFRL said the experiment will examine the ionosphere and how gases impact radio propagation used for communications and navigation.
“The experiment will use sensitive satellite instruments and radio waves to examine changes in the ionosphere resulting from different compositions of ion source gases,” AFRL said in a statement.
Felt in June during a SpaceNews webinar mentioned that VLEO was an area of interest for AFRL. “This is like where you have to be thrusting all the time just to keep your satellite in orbit, at 200 to 300 kilometers,” Felt said.
The second project, named Cislunar Highway Patrol System. or CHPS, will focus on space domain awareness beyond geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) all the way out to the moon.
“CHPS will explore concepts for object detection and tracking between GEO, where most U.S. Space Force satellites are flown, and the moon,” said AFRL.
NASA and commercial companies seek to harvest resources and return to the moon, Capt David Buehler, AFRL program manager said. “This increase in activity will require greater domain awareness. We want to be there providing safety of flight when the U.S. puts boots back on the moon.”
The CHPS experiment will investigate sensing technologies and algorithms for object tracking.
“We need to address really basic things that start to break down beyond GEO, like how do we even write down a trajectory. The current space catalog uses Two-Line Elements, or TLEs, which simply do not capture the complex orbital dynamics and have almost no meaning in cislunar space,” said Jaime Stearns, principal investigator.
The next steps for the project leaders will be to submit budgets, program timelines and specific technical objectives by Oct. 1.
At the SpaceNews webinar, Felt said the “best payoff comes from pursuing things that we're not currently doing in space today.”
https://spacenews.com/air-force-research-laboratory-announces-new-space-experiments/
On the same subject
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August 16, 2018 | International, Land
The Corps wants lighter body armor for counterinsurgency conflicts
By: Shawn Snow The Corps wants new lighter body armor to give commanders more flexibility in low-intensity conflicts on the battlefields of places like Iraq and Afghanistan. The Marines posted a request for information, or RFI, Wednesday to seek out industry support in fielding a new, lighter body armor that will complement the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert, or ESAPI, plates already fielded by Marines. According to the RFI, the Corps is seeking new armor to provide “protection from non-armor piercing rounds that are currently prevalent in counterinsurgency operations and other low intensity threat environments.” “Our current ESAPI plates do an amazing job of protecting Marines and have saved many lives,” Nick Pierce, Individual Armor team lead, program manager of Infantry Combat Equipment at Marine Corps Systems Command, said in a command release. “The only problem is Marines are currently given a binary choice between taking on 15 pounds to be protected or zero pounds and very little protection. This new lightweight plate would protect Marines and give commanders the choice of what plate to use based on the specific mission.” https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/08/15/the-corps-wants-lighter-body-armor-for-counterinsurgency-conflicts/
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October 7, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security
AeroVironment unveils Switchblade 600 loitering missile system
Robin Hughes AeroVironment Inc. has disclosed development of a new category of medium-sized, man-portable loitering missile system designed to deliver tactical reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) and enhanced precision multi-purpose/anti-armour effects at extended ranges. Developed in close co-operation with “a number of US Department of Defense [DoD] customers”, the Switchblade 600 builds on, and combines with, the in-service, combat-proven Switchblade 300 loitering weapon system and the Blackwing loitering reconnaissance system to form the core of an emerging family of scalable multi-mission loitering missile systems. “Switchblade 600 is a result of working closely with our DoD customers. They wanted the same features of the 300 but with greater effects, greater stand-off range, and extended endurance,” said Todd Hanning, Product Line Manager, Tactical Missile Systems at AeroVironment. Based on the same self-contained, tube-launched, collapsible wing, electric propulsion architecture as the backpackable Switchblade 300, the larger Switchblade 600 weighs 54.5kg (including the all-up round in the tube, and the fire control system – FCS), and is furnished with a 2-axis, 4-sensor gimballed (dual electro-optic and infrared) integrated sensor suite, and a multipurpose/anti-armour warhead, derived from the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile, equipped with a height of burst sensor. A modular payload bay provides for the future integration of an array of different lethality options, including, potentially, an anti-radiation Switchblade 600 variant. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/aerovironment-unveils-switchblade-600-loitering-missile-system