The Air Force and DOD are addressing the problem of space situational awareness by a combination of ground-based optical and radar sensors, plus short-range inspectors launched with spacecraft. There is still a major need for long-range space patrol vehicles to provide space superiority. The LEO Mobility Vehicle ( LMV) meets this need. It is like a UAV in space, free to roam Earth orbits as a versatile surveillance system with complete low-Earth-orbit (LEO) to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) coverage on demand, to observe, inspect, and trail objects. The LEO Mobility Vehicle has very high delta-V for large orbit changes, and thus provides a new and unprecedented capability for space situational awareness, space-based space observation, and close-up inspection and surveillance of all objects in space, from LEO to GTO. One dedicated secondary payload ring on a Delta 4 or Atlas 5 could launch 18 LEO Mobility Vehicles, creating an operationally responsive space fleet completely covering LEO like the GPS satellites cover the Earth.
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