The Convergence of Technology to Enable Responsive Space (Paperback)

As dependence on space systems increase and issues in current architectures present themselves, a turn to small satellites offers opportunity for system transformation or enhancement. Significant commercial and government efforts in the last decade have advanced the state of the art while bringing small satellite and related launch capabilities costs down. The TACSAT program, sponsored by the Office of Force Transformation, is leading the charge in both technology and operational concepts for DOD use of small satellites. This system is an example of how small satellites can be implemented in DOD architectures. This paper will demonstrate that small satellite and related launch systems have reached the maturity to warrant widespread use in DOD space system architectures. Current satellite and launch systems are built with significant cost, risk and schedule issues.