buglerbilly
02-03-10, 10:42 AM
Ares
A Defense Technology Blog
Will Video From Space Dim UAV's Star?
Posted by Graham Warwick at 3/1/2010 9:47 AM CST
If we've learned something these last couple of years, it's that the warfighter wants video. But what if you can't fly a UAV over hostile territory? How about real-time, tactical video from a satellite in geosynchronous orbit? That's the objective of a new US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program - Membrane Optic Imager Real-time Explotation, or MOIRE.
MOIRE is looking to develop large, lightweight, deployable diffractive membrane optics - basically a wafer-thin lens that unfurls in space - for a geosynchronous imaging satellite. The goal is to fly a 10-meter membrane in Phase 3 of the program, to demonstrate the technology for an operational 20-meter system capable of providing visible-wavelength imagery of "denied areas".
Concept: L'Garde
According to DARPA, an operational satellite would be able to image an area of more than 100kmē at least once a second, with "NIIRS 3.5+" performance - which equates to a ground resolution better than 2.5 meters, enough to identify aircraft, ships, helipads, radars and other key features. DARPA also wants to be able to detect vehicles moving at highway speeds.
Low cost is another goal, but with a "not-to-exceed" cost target of $500 million a copy, a geosynchronous real-time imaging satellite will be far from cheap. DARPA, meanwhile, has scheduled a MOIRE proposers' day for interested bidders on March 12 in Washington.
A Defense Technology Blog
Will Video From Space Dim UAV's Star?
Posted by Graham Warwick at 3/1/2010 9:47 AM CST
If we've learned something these last couple of years, it's that the warfighter wants video. But what if you can't fly a UAV over hostile territory? How about real-time, tactical video from a satellite in geosynchronous orbit? That's the objective of a new US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program - Membrane Optic Imager Real-time Explotation, or MOIRE.
MOIRE is looking to develop large, lightweight, deployable diffractive membrane optics - basically a wafer-thin lens that unfurls in space - for a geosynchronous imaging satellite. The goal is to fly a 10-meter membrane in Phase 3 of the program, to demonstrate the technology for an operational 20-meter system capable of providing visible-wavelength imagery of "denied areas".
Concept: L'Garde
According to DARPA, an operational satellite would be able to image an area of more than 100kmē at least once a second, with "NIIRS 3.5+" performance - which equates to a ground resolution better than 2.5 meters, enough to identify aircraft, ships, helipads, radars and other key features. DARPA also wants to be able to detect vehicles moving at highway speeds.
Low cost is another goal, but with a "not-to-exceed" cost target of $500 million a copy, a geosynchronous real-time imaging satellite will be far from cheap. DARPA, meanwhile, has scheduled a MOIRE proposers' day for interested bidders on March 12 in Washington.