OUSD (R&E) MODERNIZATION PRIORITY: Microelectronics; Autonomy TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors; Space Platform The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the Air Force SBIR/STTR HelpDesk: usaf.team@afsbirsttr.us. OBJECTIVE: Develop lightweight, high performance space-based optical imager capable of collecting metric observations of objects in the vast cislunar region. DESCRIPTION: The United States Space Force (USSF) is tasked with protecting and defending US interests in space. Until now, the limits of that mission have been in near Earth, out to roughly geostationary (GEO) range (approximately 36,000 km). With new US public and private sector operations extending into cislunar space, the reach of USSF's sphere of interest will extend to 450,000 km and beyond more than a tenfold increase in range and 1,000-fold expansion in service volume. USSF now has an even greater surveillance task for space domain awareness in that region, but its current capabilities and architecture are limited by technologies and an architecture designed for the legacy mission. Existing ground and near earth sensors are not only stressed by the increased range and volume, but also by background from lunar albedo for objects near the moon, obstruction from the moon itself, and the chaotic nature of orbits acted on by the gravity of both Moon and Earth which causes trajectory estimation to become more complicated. Additionally, there are a large range of orbits, trajectories and timelines for objects traversing or operating in this regime, where some orbits take hours to complete and some take weeks. To address the challenges posed to the current architecture, the USSF is exploring space-based sensors operating in lunar or cislunar orbits, not only to provide access to the large volume to be surveilled, but also to address gaps of current coverage posed by the bright lunar background or the moon itself. Several alternative architectures are being considered, including proliferation of sensors in various lunar and Earth-Moon periodic orbits, or a few sensors in Earth-Moon Lagrange points. The former would benefit from low cost optical sensors for economy in scale, and the latter with high sensitivity for detection at long ranges with fewer sensors. Both would benefit from a compact and lightweight sensor, and the capability for wide area search and discovery of objects in unknown or complex orbits. The focus of this topic is development of an optical sensor with application to these architectures. PHASE I: This is a Direct to Phase 2 (D2P2) topic. Phase 1 like proposals will not be evaluated and will be rejected as nonresponsive. For this D2P2 topic, the Government expects that the small business would have accomplished the following in a Phase I-type effort via some other means (e.g. IRAD, or other funded work). It must have developed a concept for a workable prototype or design to address at a minimum the basic capabilities of the stated objective above. Proposal must show, as appropriate to the proposed effort, a demonstrated technical feasibility or nascent capability to meet the capabilities of the stated objective. Proposal may provide example cases of this new capability on a specific application. The documentation provided must substantiate that the proposer has developed a preliminary understanding of the technology to be applied in their Phase II proposal to meet the objectives of this topic. Documentation should include all relevant information including, but not limited to: technical reports, test data, prototype designs/models, and performance goals/results. PHASE II: Based on emerging space domain awareness architectures for the cislunar regime, develop a design for an optical sensor for detection and tracking of cislunar objects. Define the performance capabilities and design features in terms of at least: i. Detectability of objects (goal of apparent visual magnitude of 16 and brighter) ii. Tracking accuracy (goal of better than 5 arc seconds) iii. Number of observations / day (goal of 500 or more) iv. Mission life (goal of 3 years or more) v. Utilizes commonly available industry standard data and mechanical interfaces between payload and bus, for example using standard fastener sizes, RS-422, Ethernet, etc. vi. Compliance with General Environmental Verification Standard (GEVS) for environmental durability Complete the design of the sensor, demonstrate performance of a prototype system through laboratory testing, and deliver the prototype for subsequent evaluation by the government PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The Government has an interest in transition of the demonstrated concept to an operational capability in support of cislunar space situational awareness operations. Additionally, applications of the technology to support commercial satellite operators in this regime are envisioned for orbit tracking, collision avoidance, and anomaly resolution. Furthermore, technologies for lightweight, high performance space sensors have other commercial mission applications. REFERENCES: Buehler, D., Felt, E., Finley, C., Garretson, P., Stearns, J., Williams, A., Posturing Space Forces for Operations Beyond GEO , Space Flight Journal, 31 January 2021,https://spaceforcejournal.org/posturing-space-forces-for-operations-beyond-geo/; Kaplan, S., Eyes on the Prize - The Strategic Implications of Cislunar Space and the Moon , Center for Strategic and International Studies, 13 July 2020,https://aerospace.csis.org/eyes-on-the-prize/; Holzinger, M.J., Chow, C.C., Garretson, P., A Primer on Cislunar Space , 3 May 2021,https://www.afrl.af.mil/Portals/90/Documents/RV/A%20Primer%20on%20Cislunar%20Space_Dist%20A_PA2021-1271.pdf ; Werner, D., Updated intelligence report calls for improved monitoring of cislunar space , Space News, 24 August 2021,https://spacenews.com/dia-report-2021-cislunar-monitoring/ ; Goddard Spaceflight Center, General Environmental Verification Standard (GEVS), GSFC-STD-7000B, 28 April 2021,https://standards.nasa.gov/standard/gsfc/gsfc-std-7000 ; KEYWORDS: space situational awareness; space domain awareness; space surveillance; space catalog; cislunar; small space-based telescope; space sensor; image processing
