TacSat-3’s rapid data collection, transmission supports warfighter

  • Published
  • By Michael P. Kleiman
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico --  Tactical Satellite-3's late October launch will begin a new era of immediate battlespace information for the American warfighter.

The satellite will demonstrate the use of a hyperspectral imager with an onboard processor to gather and send, within minutes, images of the battlespace to the warfighter on the ground.

Scheduled to launch in late October from the NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., the 880-pound spacecraft, managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate, here, has completed the majority of pre-flight evaluations, but still has some project milestones to achieve including thermal vacuum and software trials before liftoff.

"The spacecraft completed random vibration testing on July 26. The program team is now preparing to do environmental testing on the satellite and then thermal vacuum testing for 10 days," said Thom Davis, TacSat-3 program manager. "After that, we'll do full integration of flight software and that process also includes operability testing. Following that, TacSat-3 will be ready to ship to the launch site."

Initiated four years ago in response to military requirements for responsive, flexible and affordable spacecraft, TacSat-3 consists of three unique payloads: the Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer hyperspectral imager, the Office of Naval Research's Satellite Communications Package and AFRL's Space Avionics Experiment.

Designated as the small satellite's main demonstration, the ARTEMIS HSI payload will provide, within 10 minutes of its collection, target detection and identification information, as well as battlefield preparation and combat assessment data.

"Capabilities of the ARTEMIS sensor are that it can identify characteristics by seeing through camouflage and foliage. It can also recognize physical characteristics such as oil and paint," said Mr. Davis. "It will also demonstrate its ability to provide real-time information to the warfighter via a text message or on a laptop computer. With the data supplied by the spacecraft, the commander in the theater of interest can determine if the object is something to be concerned about or a decoy."

Employing sea-based buoys as data sites, the SCP experiment will collect information from the ocean equipment and transmit it to a ground station. The SAE trial will involve plug-and-play avionics, which features reprogrammable parts to link the payload and the satellite structure.

In addition, the heart and soul of the spacecraft, a first generation modular bus, will be evaluated for its operational adaptability for future TacSat flights.

TacSat-3 involves a partnership between the Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Air Force Space Command, the Department of Defense's Operationally Responsive Space office at Kirtland AFB, the Office of Naval Research, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and AFRL's Sensors Directorate.

Another key project player, the Space Development and Test Wing, also at Kirtland AFB, is providing the Minotaur 1 launch vehicle, a four-stage rocket comprising two structures obtained from defunct Minuteman ICBMs and another two platforms from Pegasus boosters.

"The TacSat-3 program is very focused. We have a coalition of multiple agencies working together to put the mission together to make it a success," Mr. Davis said. "We have made some significant gains in the past couple of months. We are creating a new capability in a cost-effective, timely manner."