Industrial Base for EKV Telescope Alternatives: Establishing an Infrastructure for Collaboration

By necessity, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has uncompromising affordability and mission assurance objectives. To achieve these objectives, MDA leverages the full capability of the industrial base for materials, components, and subsystems. Sometimes this entails seeking alternative materials, processes, and components that provide better, more affordable products. Alternative solutions are either available or in development, but they must be effectively harnessed to achieve affordable, reliable production. In some instances, realization of these alternatives requires the establishment of an entirely new industrial base for key components and processes. One such instance is telescopes for the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV). Success for such an industrial base depends on its members' ability to efficiently work together to develop and produce alternative products. Renaissance Services proposes to work with Raytheon to integrate and extend the advanced information technologies needed to ensure that the flow of technical requirements can occur seamlessly at every level of the telescope supply chain. The system will combine proven technologies with new development to establish a web-based network, enabling extensive collaboration on requirements at the most fundamental level. This will in turn enable MDA to immediately realize the full potential of its new industrial base for EKV telescope alternatives.