Developing Responsive and Agile Space Systems - Space-Library

From the Editors
30 Developing a Responsive Ground
System Enterprise
Rico Espindola and Gayla Walden
Responsive space requires responsive ground
systems. Aerospace is helping to establish
a comprehensive ground system enterprise
that can meet the anticipated tactical
demands.
37 Building Miniature Spacecraft at
The Aerospace Corporation
David Hinkley and Siegfried Janson
Imagine flying a satellite with a technology
freeze date that was only six months ago.
Aerospace has completed 11 miniature
satellites for technology demonstrations,
with an average design, build, assemble, test,
and deliver cycle of about a year.
The term “agile space” stems from a growing consensus within the
space community that the United States must be able to field certain
classes of space systems more rapidly and flexibly. To help realize
this goal, the DOD established the Operationally Responsive Space
(ORS) Office in May 2007; its goal is to identify and address technological
issues that will enable a more timely delivery of spacebased
services to meet warfighter needs.
The ORS Office has devised an end-state architecture and is identifying
the technologies that will enable its realization. Aerospace has
been contributing to the definition and execution of this architecture,
which encompasses all aspects of space systems—launch, space,
and ground. Articles in this issue of Crosslink review the various
components of this architecture and the progress that has been
made toward implementing and coordinating them.
It is important to note that the ORS Office is not in competition with
major space programs; rather, it is an adjunct to those programs
and the systems they support. Its immediate focus is on the application
of space power to the tactical theater. That includes devising
new concepts for developing and deploying satellites, but it also entails
exploiting existing space systems and infrastructure to achieve
tactical demands with greater speed and versatility.
The ORS Office is not the only—nor the first—organization to pursue
agile space concepts. The DOD’s Space Test Program (executed by
the Space and Missile Systems Center) and the Air Force Research
Laboratory have a history of developing and launching small experimental
satellites quickly and efficiently. Satellites developed by
these programs have acquisition schedules that are typically three
to four years—significantly shorter than for major space programs.
Notably, these organizations have supported Aerospace in the
development of picosatellites and CubeSats, which have demonstrated
enabling technologies and provide one possible model for
rapid system integration.
The ORS Office was established in Albuquerque to take advantage
of the expertise developed by the Space Test Program and Air
Force Research Laboratory, which also reside there. It is hoped
that these three organizations can collectively improve acquisition
timelines and apply their research expertise to operational systems.
As the articles in this issue demonstrate, Aerospace has extensive
experience in facilitating cross-program efforts and architectures
and assessing the potential of new technologies. As such, the corporation
is well positioned to help achieve the ambitious goals of
agile space.
Crosslink Summer 2009 • 1