AUTONOMOUS TARGET SELECTION FOR ASAT/DSAT INTERCEPTORS

A NUMBER OF LIGHTWEIGHT INTERCEPTOR TECHNOLOGIES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED IN SDIO KEW PROGRAM AND BY DARPA UNDER THE STRATEGIC COMPUTER INITIATIVE PROGRAM. OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES, 3-D FPA ELECTRONICS AND 3-D COMPUTERS ARE PIVOTAL. THESE PACKAGING TECHNOLOGIES ARE NOW BEING IMPLEMENTED BY IRVINE SENSORS CORPORATION (ISC) INTO NARROW FIELD OF VIEW SPACE AND GROUND BASED INTERCEPTORS WHICH HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF UTILIZING SURVEILLANCE PLATFORM SENSORS WHICH LIMIT THE REQUIRED FIELD OF VIEW TO A FEW DEGREES. IN CONTRAST, HOWEVER, ASAT/DSAT SYSTEMS REQUIRE THE EXTREME INNOVATION OF STAYING LIGHTWEIGHT WHILE ACQUIRING, TRACKING, AND KILLING TARGETS WITHIN THE 5 TO 10 DEG UNCERTAINTY BASKET PRESENTED IN ATTACKING TARGETS AUTONOMOUSLY AT THEIR PERIGREE POINTS. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES THE INNOVATION REQUIRED TO INTEGRATE ADVANCED ANALOG AND DIGITAL PARALLEL PROCESSING CIRCUITRY AND FOCAL PLANE ARRAYS (FPA) WHILE REMAINING WITHIN THE SENSOR CONSTRAINTS OF AN ASAT/DSAT SYSTEM. ISC'S PHASE I FEASIBILITY STUDY WILL DETERMINE THE SYSTEM LIMITS ON ASAT/DSAT INTERCEPTOR SEEKERS INCLUDING VOLUME, WEIGHT AND POWER. A PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A TEST IC DEMONSTRATION WILL ALSO BE COMPLETED DURING PHASE I. THE TEST IC DEMONSTRATION UNIT WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED DURING PHASE II.