INNOVATIVE APPROACHES FOR FORCE SUPPORT FROM SPACE

INNOVATIVE USES OF TACTICAL SATELLITES (TACSAT) TO RELAY DATA AND COMMANDS TO/FROM UAV'S (RPV'S) ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS PROPOSAL. TWO POTENTIAL SATELLITE DATA RELAY MISSIONS ADDRESSED IN THIS PROPOSAL ARE: (1) REAL-TIME UAV DATA AND COMMAND RELAY, AND (2) RELAY OF TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM SMALL FIELD UNITS TO END TERMINALS. RECENT ADVANCES IN SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY CAN REDUCE SATELLITE WEIGHT AND POWER, MAKING NEW AND MORE CAPABLE SYSTEMS SUCH AS THESE EFFECTIVE AND COST-EFFICIENT. PRESENT SATELLITE SYSTEMS MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE TO 'LOW-PRIORITY" TACTICAL USERS IN CRITICAL TIMES. ADDITIONAL COMMUNICATIONS DATA COULD BE PROVIDED TO THE FIELD BY A UAV-TACSAT RELAY SYSTEM. ALONG WITH THE IMAGE DATA, THE UAV COULD ALSO RELAY COMMUNICATIONS MESSAGES TO A USER THROUGH THE SATELLITE. SINCE THE UAV IS RELATIVELY CLOSE TO THE GROUND WHEN COMPARED TO A TYPICAL COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE, THE POWER REQUIREMENTS (AND HENCE SIZE) OF THE FIELD TRANSMITTER WOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS (50-60 DB LESS) THAN THAT REQUIRED FOR THE NORMAL GROUND-SPACE COMMUNICATIONS LINK. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE TO ANALYZE AND EVALUATE VARIOUS SYSTEM CONCEPTS TO DETERMINE THEIR FEASIBILITY AND SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND CONOPS WILL BE DEFINED, AND TECHNOLOGY ISSUES WILL BE DETERMINED. THE RESULTS OF THIS PHASE I EFFORT WILL PROVIDE DATA ON REQUIREMENTS, CONCEPTS, AND TECHNOLOGY OF A SYSTEM THAT WILL PROVIDE BOTH ENHANCED UAV/RPV MISSION CAPABILITIES, AS WELL AS TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS CAPABILITIES, LEADING TO FURTHER ANALYSIS AND DESIGN. THE CONCEPTS EXPLORED IN THIS STUDY CAN BE PART OF THE LARGER CONCEPT TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO THE TACTICAL USERS WITH SATELLITE SYSTEMS (TACSATS).