INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS FOR SPACE CONTROL

THE AIR FORCE SATELLITE CONTROL NETWORK (AFSCN) SUPPORTS SATELLITE SYSTEMS FOR C2, MONITORING, AS WELL AS PROVIDING A PATH FOR MISSION DATA. IN THE EVENT THAT AN RTS SHOULD BECOME NONFUNCTIONAL, THEN ALL GEO SATELLITES UTILIZING THAT STATION WILL BE OUT OF CONTACT WITH C2 AND ALSO POSSIBLY WITH USERS. THE RTS IS AT RISK OF ATTACK/SABOTAGE, POLITICAL SHUT-DOWN, JAMMING, NATURAL DISASTER, AND NUCLEAR ENVIRONMENT EFFECTS. IN ADDITION, THE SCN HAS LIMITED CAPACITY, FLEXIBILITY, SURVIVABILITY, RELIABILITY AND REDUNDANCY TO OPERATE IN STRESSED CONDITIONS. THE PROPOSED CONCEPT IS TO FIELD A SATELLITE SEGMENT TO AUGMENT THE SCN, PROVIDE SERVICES TO BOTH "STRANDED" SATELLITES, AS WELL AS NEW SERVICES, SUCH AS REAL-TIME, SURVIVABLE, A-J, LPI OF C2 AND MISSION DATA. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WOULD BE TRANSPARENT TO THE EXISTING SCN AND USER SATELLITES, AND COULD BE LAUNCHED ON SCHEDULE OR "ON-DEMAND". THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE TO DEVELOP AND EVALUATE VARIOUS SATELLITE CONCEPTS. SEVERAL CONCEPTS WILL BE DEVELOPED THAT PROVIDE VARIOUS LEVELS OF CAPABILITIES AND COSTS TO DETERMINE AN OPTIMUM CONCEPT DEFINITION. VARIOUS ORBITS AND CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS WILL BE ANALYZED. SYSTEM, SATELLITE, AND PAYLOAD REQUIREMENTS WILL BE DETERMINED. OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS AND ISSUES WILL BE DEFINED AND EVALUATED.