Multi-Mission EO/IR Instrument Optical Assembly Prototype for Cloud Characterization, Theatre Weather Imagery and Wildfire Detection and Monitoring

The United States Space Force (USSF) and United States Air Force (USAF) rely on timely, accurate cloud characterization and weather information to support defense and National Security missions across the globe, however, this crucial weather information is at risk because it relies on data from aging assets in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) that are well beyond their design lifetime. Cloud characterization and Theater Weather Imagery are the number one and two priority gaps in Space Based Environmental Monitoring (SBEM) identified by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC). Muon Space is building a wildfire constellation called “FireSat” using Muon’s multispectral EO/IR instrument, with initial protoflight launches beginning in Q1 2025. In this Phase II, Muon will evolve the current FireSat instrument architecture into a highly versatile dual-use instrument design. The resulting dual-use EO/IR instrument will be designed to meet the needs of multiple missions from a single constellation of satellites, thereby providing the DoD with a fast, cost-effective solution to fill critical JROC priority data gaps. To accomplish this, Muon will develop joint instrument requirements for both SBEM and wildfire applications, perform research and development to iteratively design the dual-use instrument leveraging the successful FireSat instrument and key subsystems, then build the new IR imaging subsystem to validate optical performance. Upon successful completion of this Phase II, the next step will be to to manufacture a SBEM Variant instrument that is ready for rapid on-orbit demonstration. This Phase II is a step towards the ultimate goal of launching a constellation of dual-use SBEM Variant instruments to deliver global, near-real time EO/IR data to the USSF to fill critical SBEM data gaps.