Tactical Satellite 3 is an Air Force Research Laboratory Science and Technology (S&T) initiative that explores the capability and technological maturity of small, low-cost satellites. It features a low cost 'plug and play' modular bus and low cost militarily significant payloads - a Raytheon developed Hyperspectral imager and secondary payload data exfiltration provided by the Office of Naval Research. In addition to providing for ongoing innovation and demonstration in this important technology area, these S&T efforts also help mitigate technology risk and establish a potential concept of operations for future acquisitions. The key objectives are rapid launch and on-orbit checkout, theater commanding, and near-real time theater data integration. It will also feature a rapid development of the space vehicle and integrated payload and spacecraft bus by using components and processes developed by the satellite modular bus initiative. Planned for a late summer 2008 launch, the TacSat-3 spacecraft will collect and process images and then downlink processed data using a Common Data Link. An in-theater tactical ground station will have the capability to uplink tasking to spacecraft and will receive full data image. An international program, the United Kingdom Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) plan to participate in TacSat-3 experiments.
Tactical Satellite 3
2008
12 pages
Report
No indication
English
Military Operations, Strategy, & Tactics , Optical Detection , Unmanned Spacecraft , Common Carrier & Satellite , Space surveillance , Artificial satellites , Hyperspectral imagery , Low costs , Modular construction , Launching , Data links , Downlinks , Uplinks , Checkout procedures , Earth orbits , Spacecraft , Payload , Integrated systems , Symposia , Tacsat(Tactical satellites) , Ors(Operationally responsive spaces) , Artemis(Advanced responsive tactically effective military imaging spectrometers) , Hsi(Hyperspectral imaging) , Scp(Satellite communications packages) , Sae(Space avionics experiments)
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2008
|Tactical satellite communications
Tema Archive | 1981
|The Tactical Communications Satellite
IEEE | 1970
|Myth of the Tactical Satellite
NTIS | 2006
|Tactical Navigation Satellite System Study
NTIS | 1968
|