Mark R. Ackermann, (Sandia National Laboratories), Rex R. Kiziah, (United States Air Force Academy), Peter C. Zimmer, (University of New Mexico), J. Douglas Beason, (Universities Space Research Association), Earl J. Spillar, (Air Force Research Laboratory), David D. Cox, (Sandia National Laboratories), John T. McGraw, (University of New Mexico), W. Thomas Vestrand, (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Mark Weeks, (Bay Area Termite)
Keywords: Space Surveillance Telescope, Space Situational Awareness
Abstract:
The Space Surveillance Telescope (SST) developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – has demonstrated significant capability improvements over legacy ground-based optical space surveillance systems. To fulfill better the current and future space situational awareness (SSA) requirements, the Air Force would benefit from a global network of such telescopes, but the high cost to replicate the SST makes such an acquisition decision difficult, particularly in an era of fiscal austerity. Ideally, the Air Force needs the capabilities provided by the SST, but at a more affordable price. To address this issue, an informal study considered a total of 67 alternative optical designs, with each being evaluated for cost, complexity and SSA performance. One promising approach identified in the study uses a single mirror at prime focus with a small number of corrective lenses. This approach results in telescopes that are less complex and estimated to be less expensive than replicated SSTs. They should also be acquirable on shorter time scales. Another approach would use a modest network of smaller telescopes for space surveillance. This approach provides significant cost advantages but faces some challenges with very dim objects. In this paper, we examine the cost and SSA utility for each of the 67 designs considered.
Date of Conference: September 10-13, 2013
Track: Optical Systems