Space Traffic Management Standards, Best Practices, & Guidelines: Gaps, Priorities, and Mechanisms

The United States’ Space Policy Directive – 3, “National Space Traffic Management Policy” identifies the need for more than 20 different space traffic management (STM) related standards, best practices, and guidelines to be developed to address a wide range of STM issues. This paper will assess the completeness of the list of standards, best practices,…

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National Security Space governance employing Hybrid Adaptive Networking for ensured Satcom Access in Global Response Operations

Deployed Global response teams have limited access to terrestrial and LOS communication networks, necessitating access to Satcom for timely information and response. Traditionally, National Security Space governance of Satcom supporting these missions has been dispersed among AFSPC, DISA, ARSTRAT, and RSSCs for Space and Networking and Services for terminals and platform integration. Recently, a new…

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Sorting Fact from Fiction…a UAV User’s Guide to Beyond Line of Sight Connectivity

Current military operations rely on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for a range of Command and Control (C2) and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions. Many of these missions require Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) communications links which can be implemented using a range of satellite communications (SATCOM) architectures. The range of sizes and capabilities of…

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Future Use Cases for Hallmark Space Situational Awareness Architecture

Most major collisions in Earth’s orbit are not detected until after they occur. This includes the 2009 collision between a defunct Cosmos satellite and an operational Iridium communications satellite. The fact that this collision took both NASA and the US Military by surprise caused no small amount of consternation in the public, along with several…

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Contribution of Commercial Small Satellites to Space Domain Mission Assurance

The 2015 Space Mission Assurance Taxonomy defines the OSD Policy perspective on Space Domain Mission Assurance (SDMA) for critical national security space (NSS) assets. The document classifies three approaches to Mission Assurance for NSS systems: Defensive Operations, Reconstitution, and Resilience, which is further separated into six sub-elements. Since its publication, the Taxonomy has gained wide…

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An Innovative, Dual Use Star Tracker for Detecting Dim Objects for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) while Enabling Attitude Determination

Space Situational Awareness situational awareness (SSA) is an emerging area of growing complexity given the increasing number of satellites flown for the military, commercial, and civil applications plus other orbital debris. With the this increasingly congested and contested environment, there is a growing need for new systems with enhanced capabilities to detect and track these…

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OAWL: A High-heritage US Doppler Wind Lidar for Next-Generation Space-based Wind and Aerosol Observations

Improving weather forecast skill with global wind profile measurements is one solution to earth challenges from hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters. ESA’s Aeolus Doppler Wind Lidar (DWL) launched on 23 August 2018, demonstrating the first global, vertically resolved, direct wind profile measurements from space. As single line-of-sight (LOS) Aeolus wind measurements demonstrate impact on…

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Emergence of Micro-Satellites as Powerful RF Analytics Tools

In the past, satellites under 100 kg in size were largely viewed as experimental — useful for university education and research programs, but not considered to be viable for commercial applications. But the industry and technology are now transitioning into a phase where startups are deploying low-cost constellations of micro-satellites to deliver true value to…

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Realtime ground measurement of atmospheric parameters critical to free space optical communication

Space to ground optical communications requires precise knowledge of cloud cover, turbulence, and absorption. This data is critical at several stages: • Survey and selection of potential OGS sites. • During operation of an OGS to measure link availability and bandwidth • To predict atmospheric conditions over the OGS network in order to balance and…

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Satellite Servicing – the key to a new operating paradigm in orbit

A robotics enabled spacecraft for servicing satellites is being prepared for permanent residence in GEO in 2021. Outfitted with agile maneuvering for safe rendezvous with operating or tumbling assets, a vast reserve of propellant to run many service calls anywhere near GEO, and a suite of next generation dexterous robotics, a versatile robotic servicing spacecraft…

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