Retour aux nouvelles

23 janvier 2019 | International, C4ISR

DARPA Prototype Reflectarray Antenna Offers High Performance in Small Package

DARPA's Radio Frequency Risk Reduction Deployment Demonstration (R3D2) is set for launch in late February to space-qualify a new type of membrane reflectarray antenna. The antenna, made of a tissue-thin Kapton membrane, packs tightly for stowage during launch and then will deploy to its full size of 2.25 meters in diameter once it reaches low Earth orbit.

R3D2 will monitor antenna deployment dynamics, survivability and radio frequency (RF) characteristics of a membrane antenna in low-Earth orbit. The antenna could enable multiple missions that currently require large satellites, to include high data rate communications to disadvantaged users on the ground. A successful demonstration also will help prove out a smaller, faster-to-launch and lower cost capability, allowing the Department of Defense, as well as other users, to make the most of the new commercial market for small, inexpensive launch vehicles. Satellite design, development, and launch took approximately 18 months.

“The Department of Defense has prioritized rapid acquisition of small satellite and launch capabilities. By relying on commercial acquisition practices, DARPA streamlined the R3D2 mission from conception through launch services acquisition,” said Fred Kennedy, director of DARPA's Tactical Technology Office. “This mission could help validate emerging concepts for a resilient sensor and data transport layer in low Earth orbit – a capability that does not exist today, but one which could revolutionize global communications by laying the groundwork for a space-based internet.”

The launch will take place on a Rocket Lab USA Electron rocket from the company's launch complex on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor and integrated the 150 kg satellite; MMA Design designed and built the antenna. Trident Systems designed and built R3D2's software-defined radio, while Blue Canyon Technologies provided the spacecraft bus.

Rocket Lab will host a webcast and provide coverage of the launch via live stream: http://www.rocketlabusa.com/live-stream.

https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-01-22b

Sur le même sujet

  • CACI Awarded $465 Million Task Order to Provide Expertise for U.S. Army C5ISR Missions

    13 mai 2020 | International, C4ISR

    CACI Awarded $465 Million Task Order to Provide Expertise for U.S. Army C5ISR Missions

    Arlington, Va. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - May 12, 2020 - CACI International Inc (NYSE: CACI) announced today that it has been awarded a five-year single-award task order, with a ceiling value of more than $465 million, by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's (CCDC) Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) center to provide research and development on cryptographic modernization, information security, and tactical network protection. Under the task order, which the Army's Cyber Security and Information Division (CSIA) awarded under the GSA Alliant II contract vehicle, CACI will provide mission expertise to enhance cyber defense capabilities for C5ISR systems. CSIA leads the Army in cryptographic modernization, information security, and tactical network protection as a division of the Army Space and Terrestrial Communications Directorate, C5ISR Center, CCDC, U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC). CACI will provide the Army with new software-defined capabilities across the service's many modernization initiatives and research areas. For example, CACI communications and cyber experts will assist the service in protecting next-generation 5G networks, as well as enhancing the security of wireless, near-field, satellite, and other communications. CACI will also support urgent requirements for AFC's cross-functional teams, provide techniques and technologies to reduce risks for Army networks, and move innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence from the laboratory to the field. John Mengucci, CACI President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “With this new work, CACI's mission experts will support the Army's C5ISR capabilities from the desktop to outer space, and enable the service to advance critical technologies from the lab to the field.” CACI Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board Dr. J.P. (Jack) London, said, “CACI is proud to support Army modernization to ensure it dominates any and all future battlefields.” CACI's 23,000 talented employees are vigilant in providing the unique expertise and distinctive technology that address our customers' greatest enterprise and mission challenges. Our culture of good character, innovation, and excellence drives our success and earns us recognition as a Fortune World's Most Admired Company. As a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies, the Russell 1000 Index, and the S&P MidCap 400 Index, we consistently deliver strong shareholder value. Visit us at www.caci.com There are statements made herein which do not address historical facts, and therefore could be interpreted to be forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in CACI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019, and other such filings that CACI makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Any forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon and only speak as of the date hereof. CACI-Contract Award View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200512005083/en/ Corporate Communications and Media: Jody Brown, Executive Vice President, Public Relations (703) 841-7801, jbrown@caci.com Investor Relations: Daniel Leckburg, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations (703) 841-7666, dleckburg@caci.com Source: CACI International Inc View source version on CACI: http://investor.caci.com/file/Index?KeyFile=403962930

  • HII is Awarded $75 Million Contract to Support U.S. Navy Integrated Training Systems

    10 octobre 2024 | International, Terrestre

    HII is Awarded $75 Million Contract to Support U.S. Navy Integrated Training Systems

    HII has performed similar work for the U.S. Navy for two decades.

  • Army to hold competition to build ventilators for COVID-19 emergency response

    14 avril 2020 | International, Terrestre

    Army to hold competition to build ventilators for COVID-19 emergency response

    By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army's acquisition chief, Bruce Jette, has directed the Army's Expeditionary Technology Search program to hold a competition for solutions to rapidly build ventilators to support the COVID-19 virus emergency response, according to an April 9 service statement. Addressing the United States' ventilator shortage needed to treat severe cases of COVID-19, the xTechSearch team will tap industry for innovative approaches to building an inexpensive, emergency ventilator “that requires minimal components and is designed for simplified mass production,” the statement reads. The competition will be open to “any American business, regardless of size,” the statement notes. The team will begin accepting virtual pitches from competitors starting April 13. “Novel solutions” will win a prize of $5,000 to present pitches of the concepts virtually to a panel of judges, according to the statement. The Army will then award $100,000 cash prizes to winning solutions to develop concept prototypes, it adds. Some technologies could receive follow-on contracts for further production and deployment. "The technology solution must provide a rapid-response breathing apparatus capable of short-term, rugged field operation in a small footprint that will support field hospitals," Zeke Topolosky, the Army xTechSearch program manager, said in the statement. The statement did not detail how rapidly technologies should move from concept to prototype to production. xTechSearch is a competition sponsored by the Army's acquisition branch “targeting small businesses to uncover novel dual-use science and technology solutions,” according to the program's website. “The competition aims to tackle the Army's most critical modernization challenges supporting the top Army focus areas.” https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/04/09/army-to-hold-competition-to-build-ventilators-for-covid-19-emergency-response/

Toutes les nouvelles