Goodrich Corp. landed the first contract to outfit a satellite with sensors under a U.S. Department of Defense program whose ultimate goals include the ability to develop, build and launch a satellite in six days.
Under the so-called Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) program, the Department of Defense (DOD) hopes to be able to speed exponentially the development of small, relatively cheap satellites tailored for specific missions down to less than a week so that admirals and generals can plan military campaigns around new capabilities.
In May 2007, the Pentagon established an ORS office at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, months after China tested a missile in January 2007 that analysts speculated could be used to destroy satellites. Among the ORS program”™s earliest stated goals was improving the survivability of space communications from enemies determined to knock out satellites.
Still open to question is whether the Pentagon program will take a direct hit from Capitol Hill or the Obama administration. Goodrich”™s progress could influence whether Congress follows through on up to $300 million in cuts from the program between 2011 and 2014 ”“ which ironically could cost the government in the long term.
The Kirtland office provides an update on its activities next April at the Responsive Space Conference in Los Angeles. Â Kitty-corner across the nation at a hilltop optics laboratory overlooking Danbury, Goodrich is taking on the task of producing sensors for the prototype satellite; in a paper published earlier this year, the company indicated it has been working on a sensor that could scan up to 1500 kilometers in a single contiguous ground track.
In a sense, it is the ORS program”™s Sputnik taking shape in Fairfield County, ultimately to be housed inside a “bus” manufactured by ATK Space Systems in Herndon, Va.
Smaller satellites are not only swifter to build, but they are also quicker to launch and commission into service. Researchers compare today”™s expensive, slow-to-deploy satellites to the mainframe computers of the 1970”™s, arguing that a more modular approach is inherently more efficient ”“ much in the way mainframes have largely been replaced in many settings by relatively nimble networks of computer servers, PCs, data routers and storage computers.
“Will operationally responsive space fundamentally change the way we do business in space? It would have to,” said Bryan Fram, a researcher with the Air Force Institute of Technology, in a 2007 paper analyzing the economic costs and benefits of the program. “There is still a lot of uncertainty in determining the overall risk and cost of switching to an operational paradigm ”¦ While this uncertainty exists there will be proponents on both sides of the argument; my personal opinion is that the benefits will outweigh the risks and costs.”
While Goodrich is testing the swift development and integration of a major system into an ORS framework, myriad companies are coming up with ways to speed satellite construction ”“ right down to the nuts and bolts.
Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corp. has proposed the development of a one-size-fits-all, one-turn bolt to fasten together prefab panels for future satellites, arguing such a step would save significant money devoted to testing, training and assembly of satellites, which can take anywhere from six months to two years. Based in New York City, Honeybee Robotics developed the miniature backhoe used by the Phoenix Mars Lander this year to scoop up icy soil from the surface of the Red Planet. NASA last week indicated the probe ceased operating last week, likely the result of drained batteries due to reduced sunlight in the Martian winter for its solar panels.
