Upon This Rock...A Foundational Space Situational Awareness Technology for 2030

摘要

The use of space permeates all aspects of the American way of life. If the U.S. is to protect its space capabilities, it must increase its space situational awareness (SSA) to provide the foundation for activities in space. In the year 2030, congestion will describe the space environment. Space debris will be abundant, and satellite size will diminish through technology proliferation. The Air Force, as the Executive Agent for Space, will need to diagnose and attribute space events to meet this threat; however, current radar and optical telescopes cannot resolve these small objects. Using fluoride fiber lasers will address the threat and technological imperatives because this technology can enable intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance collection capabilities from space. This paper postulates a conceptual SSA system using a fluoride fiber laser payload to investigate system performance in three 2030 space scenarios. This conceptual SSA system provides benefits to the U.S. in all three scenarios; however, the system still has impediments to overcome. This paper discusses the political, economic, and legal impediments to system development and recommends developments in pulsed fluoride fiber laser output power, fluoride fiber devices, and small pump lasers to overcome the technical challenges. In addition, the paper recommends follow-on SSA system concept exploration.