ARLINGTON, Va.—Astronomers at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., plan to develop a large, diffractive optics membrane and communications equipment for a geosynchronous orbit-based telescope, which is to be part of a space-based video surveillance system.
The program is called Membrane Optic Imager Real-time Exploitation (MOIRE), for which DARPA officials say they will issue a broad agency announcement (BAA) soon.
The MOIRE program seeks to provide persistent, real-time, tactical video to the warfighter. Developing diffractive membrane optics could help pave the way to low-cost geosynchronous imaging, DARPA scientists believe.
Ultimately, DARPA wants to develop a 20-meter system providing 24/7 visible National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS) 3.5+ coverage over denied areas with at least a 1 Hz rate, a field of view larger than 60 square miles, with a cost less than $500 million each. Phase-3 of the MOIRE program will develop a 10-meter diffractive membrane.
The future MOIRE program BAA will seek industry proposals that address large, inexpensive, lightweight, deployable, diffractive membrane optics for geosynchronous orbit imaging systems; near-real-time image stabilization and tactical geolocation knowledge; a telescope design that increases spectral bandwidth; stability and dynamics of the large structure in geosynchronous orbit; and target motion detection capability for highway speeds.
More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/spg/ODA/DARPA/CMO/DARPA-SN-10-31/listing.html.
mae.pennnet.com
Monday, April 12, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment