Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center eyes boost to space prototyping fund

摘要

The Space and Missile Systems Center is looking to boost funding for a fiscal year 2020 new-start program that would consolidate and focus investment in innovative prototyping efforts across the space enterprise. The Air Force has traditionally used research and development funding allocated for individual programs to support prototyping work, but its FY-20 budget request featured a new program element, dubbed Space System Prototypes Transition. The funding would support prototyping efforts across its development portfolio and. according to budget documents, help SMC quickly identify capability gaps, accelerate its efforts to mature new technology and more quickly transition those technologies to programs of record. Congress fully funded the $142 million request, which will support prototyping and technology work for a slate of projects in FY-20, including Blackjack - a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency effort to demonstrate the feasibility of launching a proliferated low-earth orbit satellite constellation.