Deployable Antennas for VLF Transmission and Space-Based Radiation Belt Remediation: Development, Spacecraft Integration, Modeling and Simulation

Energetic electron belts, produced by natural solar processes, hostile or accidental high-altitude nuclear detonation (HAND) events would persist and dominate the radiation environment and significantly degrade low Earth orbit (LEO) assets. Even a relatively low-yield nuclear device can result in depletion of all un-hardened LEO assets within a short time. Particularly severe space weather events, such as corona mass ejections can also serve to significantly degrade the life of our assets. Replacement of our spacecraft in this environment without clean-up isn’t practical, because their lifetime would be vastly degraded. Methods are being investigated to reduce the intensity of enhanced radiation belts by transmitting VLF electromagnetic waves from space-based assets which will pitch-angle scatter the electrons via cyclotron-resonant wave-particle interactions. Proton scattering, a much harder problem due to the need to transmit at even lower, less efficiently propagating frequencies, is also investigated. The proposed effort is concerned with the design and development of responsive technology necessary to make such a system operational: 1. Conductive, high-capacitance, long (1,000-m class) VLF antennas, with high volumetric stowage efficiencies. 2. VLF Transmitters (including control, amplification and adaptive tuning), which when coupled with the conductive antennas comprise the payload of the operational system.