Army Nanosatellite Technology Demonstrations for the Tactical Land Warfighter

Our nation has a truly impressive array of space-based capabilities supporting our armed forces. However, much of this support is focused at the strategic and operational levels of war. There are several areas of desired improvement in the space force enhancement mission area at the tactical level of war that could be addressed by small, very inexpensive satellites dedicated for use by tactical land warfighters. New trends in the miniaturization of electronic components are leading to smaller satellites with significant capabilities in the nanosatellite (1-10 kg) and microsatellite (10-100 kg) classes. US Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command is pursuing a number of technology demonstrations to validate the concept of nanosatellite/microsatellite constellations that could be tasked by the tactical land warfighters at and below the Brigade Combat Team echelon. Current projects include several very small satellites, namely the Space and Missile Defense Command - Operational Nanosatellite Effect (SMDC-ONE), Kestrel Eye, NanoEye, and Small Agile Tactical Spacecraft (SATS). Related enabling capabilities include a user-friendly ground segment and the dedicated launch capability provided by the Multipurpose NanoMissile System (MNMS). These demonstrations can help establish the case for inexpensive space force enhancement for the tactical land warfighter through low cost, rapidly developed nanosatellite/microsatellite constellations. ; Presented at the Army Science Conference (27th), held on 29 Nov-2 Dec, 2010. The original document contains color images.