AIRBORNE SCIENCE DATA RELAY USING ORBCOMM

ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE PLATFORMS OF ALL TYPES REQUIRE A RELIABLE AND COST-EFFECTIVE MEANS OF COMMUNICATING WITH HOME LABORATORIES. CURRENT SATELLITE TECHNIQUES SUFFER FROM LOW DATA RATES, EXCESSIVE LATENCIES, HIGH COSTS, OR OTHER COMPLICATIONS. A NEW GENERATION OF LOW-ALTITUDE COMMERCIAL DATA RELAY SATELLITES OFFERS ATTRACTIVE OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE OVER-THE-HORIZON TELEMETRY AND TELECOMMAND. RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING AND DEMONSTRATING AN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE DATA LINK USING ORBITAL SCIENCES CORPORATION'S ORBCOMM SATELLITE SYSTEM. WHILE THE WORK WILL BE DIRECTED TOWARD DATA RELAY REQUIREMENTS FOR AIRCRAFT AND BALLOONS, IT WILL BE APPLICABLE TO A BROAD RANGE OF SCIENCE PURSUITS INCLUDING BUOYS AND GROUND STATIONS.