EXPANDING THE APPLICATIONS OF MINIATURE SATELLITE TECHNOLOGIES

WHILE LARGE, COMPLEX AND EXPENSIVE SATELLITE SYSTEMS WILL REMAIN THE ONLY MEANS TO ACHIEVE MANY MISSION REQUIREMENTS MINIATURE SATELLITES HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE CAPABILITY TO REPLACE LARGE SYSTEMS FOR CERTAIN APPLICATIONS. MINIATURE SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY (MST) LOWERS COST BY REDUCING SATELLITE ENGINEERING AND FABRICATION COSTS AS WELL AS REDUCING LAUNCH COST DUE TO MUCH LOWER SATELLITE WEIGHT. DEFENSE SYSTEMS IS THE ONLY SATELLITE MANUFACTURER TO HAVE PROVEN THE POTENTIAL OF THE MST CONCEPT FOR MILITARY APPLICATION. OUR GLOBAL LOW ORBITING MESSAGE RELAY (GLOMR) DIGITAL MESSAGE RELAY SATELLITE PROVIDED 2.5 TIMES ITS DESIGN SERVICE LIFETIME WHILE DEMONSTRATING THE UNIQUE CAPABILITIES OF THE MINIATURE SATELLITE CONCEPT. IT WAS DESIGNED, LAUNCHED AND OPERATED FOR UNDER $1 MILLION AND ITS DERIVATIVES ARE BEING PRODUCED FOR $300,000 TO $500,000. MASTER GROUND STATION AND REMOTE TERMINAL COSTS ARE PROPORTIONATELY LOW COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL SYSTEMS. PROCUREMENT OF A SATELLITE SYSTEM BECOMES AFFORDABLE FOR MANY MILITARY UNITS. AN EXPERIMENT CAN BE OPERATED VIA PERSONAL COMPUTER BY TECHNICIANS WITHIN A SPECIFIC ORGANIZATION. WITH THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF USING MINIATURE SATELLITES IN PLACE OF MORE COSTLY CONVENTIONAL SYSTEMS, APPLICATIONS USING A STANDARDIZED, SMALL BUS AS WELL AS COMMUNICATIONS, SENSOR, AND A WIDE VARIETY OF TEST PLATFORM PAYLOADS CAN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE COST AND LEAD TIME FOR USAF ACCESS TO SPACE.