Firm foundation laid for premier research and development spacecraft(Forwarded)

Public Affairs
Air Force Research Laboratory
Kirtland AFB, New Mexico

Contact: Michael P. Kleiman
Phone: 505-846-4704

September 22, 2005

VS Release No. 05-19

Firm foundation laid for premier research and development spacecraft

Demonstration and Science Experiments satellite will provide advanced
technology to enhance war fighter communication, surveillance, and
navigation when launched in 2008

In 2004, the future of spacecraft dedicated to research and development
arrived with the initiation of the Demonstration and Sciences Experiments
(DSX) space flight program.

Planned to launch in 2008 and inserted in a medium-earth orbit of 10,000
kilometers, DSX will conduct experiments to advance the warfighter's
communication, surveillance, and navigation capabilities.

"It is designed to be the highly ambitious, as well as one of the largest
research and development spacecraft flown by AFRL," Dr. Greg Spanjers, DSX
program manager, said. "The program started in January 2004, and at this
point, we are pleased to be ahead of the baseline plan for both schedule
and budget."

Originally conceived by researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratory,
Space Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., over two years
ago for physics-based experimental objectives, DSX will consist of parts
provided by approximately 15 different entities from the public and
private sectors, industry, Dept. of Defense, National Aeronautics and
Space Administration and academia. In addition, the spacecraft will carry
science experiment payloads from the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), Arlington, Va., NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md., and the Air Force Research Laboratory's Propulsion and
Space Vehicles Directorates.

Although scheduled for launch in three years, the project has milestones
to achieve in the upcoming months and years including a preliminary design
review of the spacecraft system this fall and a critical design review of
the satellite in early 2006. Typical spacecraft programs will initiate
fabrication only after the critical design review process. On the other
hand, judicious use of standardized mechanical and electrical interfaces
has enabled DSX to initiate fabrication on an accelerated schedule. Flight
hardware fabrication is currently being performed for the spacecraft
structure, avionics, and several of the space weather payloads.

By mid-2007, the spacecraft bus will arrive at the Space Vehicles
Directorate's Aerospace Engineering Facility on Kirtland AFB, initiating a
six-month payload assembly integration and test phase. Following these
required procedures, the 400-kilogram spacecraft will be prepared for
launch to an orbit regime known as the mediu-mearth Orbit (MEO) slot
region.

This particular area, between about 8,000 and 12,000 kilometers,
represents an attractive orbit for future communications and surveillance
satellites because it has a lower radiation dose rate and sufficient
altitudes to allow for global coverage. In addition, it is four times
closer than geostationary (GEO) satellites, which increases communications
speed by a factor of eight. This attractive orbit has remained largely
unexplored, with most commercial, military, and science satellites opting
for low-earth orbit (LEO) or GEO orbits.

A majority of the research satellites fly in LEO, between 400 and 2,000
kilometers, to reduce problems caused by radiation. A primary goal of DSX,
however, is to conduct the characterization and basic research on the MEO
environment needed to establish predictive models for future spacecraft
designers. Nevertheless, an equally important goal is to investigate
potential methods for decreasing the space radiation around spacecraft so
as to protect them from solar storms and other radiation sources. The
three distinct experiments planned for DSX's year-long mission will
significantly improve DOD's capability in this attractive orbital regime.
Let's now review each one.

The Wave Particle Interaction Experiment (WPIx) will transmit and receive
very low frequency waves in the 10 to 50-kilohertz range and quantify
their effect on the trapped electron populations in the magnetosphere. DSX
will also utilize ground transmitters and other space receivers to measure
critical parameters such as VLF injection across the ionosphere and the
farfield radiated patterns.

The DSX Space Weather Experiment (SWx) will characterize the high and low
energy electron and proton fluence, radiation dose rates, local magnetic
fields and pitch angle distribution or radiation particles in the slot
region orbit.

Last but not least, the space environment effects experiment consists of
NASA's Space Environment Testbed (SET), as well as several AFRL-developed
photometers and radiometers. The SET will employ several sensors to
characterize a broad spectrum of energetic particles and its effects on
electronics, such as radiation displacement damage and single event
effects (SEE). Conversely, the AFRL instruments will be used to
characterize optical and thermal property degradation of several
spacecraft materials of interest.

DSX will benefit the joint warfighter by greatly enhancing our
understanding of the MEO environment, with particular emphasis on the slot
region attractive for future space surveillance and high-speed
communication. In addition, DSX will perform the basic research needed to
assess man's ability to actively regulate agitations to the space weather
environment that currently cause accelerated degradation of critical space
assets.

"We have designed DSX to be a cutting edge base of research for the
warfighter's needs for communication, surveillance, and navigation," Dr.
Spanjers said.

The Space Vehicles Directorate will provide a bulk of the funding for the
$37 million spacecraft, but other financial contributors include DARPA,
NASA, and the Propulsion Directorate, which is located at Edwards Air
Force Base, Calif. Finally, the program is operating on schedule and on
budget, as well as on the path towards accomplishing a spacecraft bus
critical design review in early 2006.

Like the phrase "To boldly go where no one has gone before" from the Star
Trek television series, DSX will set the standard for the future of
research and development technology employed in space.

IMAGE CAPTIONS:

[Image 1:
http://www.vs.afrl.af.mil/News/Images/05-19b.jpg (348KB)]
DSX Program Manager Dr. Greg Spanjers, Air Force Research Laboratory,
Space Vehicles Directorate (right), discusses the research and development
spacecraft project with Aaron Adler, contract aerospace engineer, Jackson
and Tull (left), and Jason Guarnieri, Aerospace engineer, AFRL, Space
Vehicles Directorate. The innovative satellite is scheduled to launch in
2008. (Photo by Michael P. Kleiman)

[Image 2:
http://www.vs.afrl.af.mil/News/Images/05-19c.jpg (62KB)]
DSX satellite in stowed configuration on the evolved expendable launch
vehicle secondary payload adapter ring (Graphic courtesy of Dr. Greg
Spanjers)