Award Data

Free Space Optical (FSO) communication systems provide many benefits for satellite communications, including high data rates and low Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) compared to traditional RF communication systems.Additionally, FSO systems operate without RF emissions and are inherently immune to RF interference and jamming.The narrow optical beams and small Field-of-View of the optical receivers al ...

The objective of this program is to develop, demonstrate and implement a low reconfigurable, reliable Free Space Optical (FSO) link supporting high bandwidth communications for satellite to satellite or satellite to ground communication. The FSO Transceiver (Transmitter/Receiver) to be implemented will be small Size, Weight, Power and Cost (SWaP-C) such that it can be easily carried by compact spa ...

The introduction of computer vision in precision-guided ammunition will potentially increase their targeting capabilities, in particular for moving targets such as tanks, vehicles and mobile command posts. EO/IR cameras offer a relatively inexpensive, low-SWaP payload solution which, combined with latest advances in SIMD hardware (GPUs), are finally starting to allow running sophisticated visual g ...

This SBIR project will develop and demonstrate efficient electron emitter based on carbon nanotubecopper (CNT-Cu) composite for passive discharging of spacecraft in plasma environment. A spacecraft moving through harsh plasma environment collects electrons, which leads to the spacecraft charging up to several kilovolts. High voltage between different parts of the spacecraft can ignite arcing, whic ...

In partnership with the Colorado School of Mines Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies and with support from the Johns Hopkins University Energetic Research Group, Special Aerospace Services will provide the Air Force with characterization of fully dense Selective Laser Melted GRCop-84 subjected to a variety of manipulations that affect key performance metrics for regene ...

The main objective of this STTR Phase I effort is two-fold. First, to develop a robust approach for coupling the flow solver Kestrel with the multidisciplinary software tool AERO Suite in order to enable the physics-based modeling and simulation of the dynamics of Aerodynamics Decelerator Systems (ADS) such as parachutes from deployment to terminal velocity or terminal descent and touchdown, and t ...

This Phase I STTR proposal describes the development of a dual frequency millimeter-wave sun tracking radiometer designed to measure total atmospheric attenuation from ground level to the top of the atmosphere.The suns brightness temperature, which is on the order of 10,000K at millimeter-wavelengths, provides an ideal background reference allowing high dynamic range estimation of total atmospheri ...

This is a prototype system that will take raw observation data, detect and characterize maneuvers, and use reinforcement learning to understand and react to evasive RSO behaviors in near real time. This will provide a framework to evaluate autonomous behavior strategies, such a safety, effectiveness, and robustness to manipulation. This work will enable surveillance operators to distinguish betwee ...

The DF&NN team has significant experience in delivering Space Domain Awareness tools. These tools will be applied to 2 years of GEO ephemeris data of active satellites at DF&NN. The RDESB prototype will reduce the risk in rapidly discovering the behavioral patterns of potentially evasive and/or ambiguous active resident space objects. RDESB will detect non-Keplerian behavior in ephemeris data for ...

Space superiority requires space protection and space situational awareness (SSA), which rely on rapid and accurate space object behavioral and operational intent discovery. The focus of this project is to develop a stochastic approach for rapid discovery of evasive satellite behaviors. Designing the innovative decision support tool has numerous challenges: (i) partial observable actions; (ii) eva ...