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Satellite Severe Space Weather Easily-Integrable Advanced Protection System

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Air Force
Contract: FA9453-11-M-0119
Agency Tracking Number: F103-104-1105
Amount: $99,997.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: AF103-104
Solicitation Number: 2010.3
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2010
Award Year: 2011
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2011-02-18
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
Applied Technologies Division 20600 Gramercy Place, Bldg. 100
Torrance, CA -
United States
DUNS: 153865951
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: Yes
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 John Matthews
 Team Leader
 (310) 320-3088
 ATProposals@poc.com
Business Contact
 Gordon Drew
Title: Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (310) 320-3088
Email: gedrew@poc.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

ABSTRACT: To address the Air Force need for satellite protection in severe space weather, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Satellite Severe Space Weather Easily-Integrable Advanced Protection (SWEAP) system. This proposed system is based on a new design that uses in-house developed space weather monitoring sensors, novel hardware shielding, and error correction software. The innovative hardware shielding, which can be tuned on-the-fly depending on the severity of the space weather event, will provide a low overhead impact on the satellite design (<10% increase in size, weight, and power for circuits and systems, and no generation penalty for electronics components). As a result, this technology offers protection against the effects of extreme space weather phenomena with a low integration risk, which directly addresses the Air Force requirements for compatibility with existing military and government satellite design approaches. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of SWEAP by developing a design solution and verifying that it meets the objectives through modeling and laboratory experiments. In Phase II, a prototype system will be developed and characterized with a laboratory test setup to demonstrate improved space weather protection with overhead impact on existing and future satellite designs. BENEFIT: Military applications of the SWEAP technology will include space weather protection of communications and navigation satellites to ensure warfighters have full-time access to command, control, and communication assets. The Air Force can incorporate SWEAP into military satellite communications (SATCOM), which will benefit from the reduction in loss of communications links during periods of heightened solar activity. Potential commercial customers include the commercial airline industry because polar routes are highly susceptible to cancelation due to disruption by solar energetic particles. Such cancellations can represent costs of about $100k per flight for airlines. Integration of space weather protection into commercial airline avionics would greatly reduce such costs.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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