Spacecraft to forecast outages impacting U.S. military communication links (Forwarded)

Public Affairs
Air Force Research Laboratory
Kirtland AFB, New Mexico

Contact: Michael P. Kleiman
Phone: 505-846-4704

October 11, 2005

VS Release No. 05-21

Spacecraft to forecast outages impacting U.S. military communication links

The communication/navigation outage forecasting system satellite will
enhance prediction of the effects of ionospheric scintillation on Dept. of
Defense satellite data

At General Dynamics, Spectrum Astro Space Systems, Gilbert, Ariz, testing
progresses on the communication/navigation outage forecasting system
(C/NOFS) satellite, which when launched in February 2006, will serve as
the premier mission into the heavens dedicated to forecasting ionospheric
scintillation and its impact on America's military information systems.

Originated in the late 1990s, the C/NOFS program involves a partnership
between two Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., organizations, the Air Force
Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate and the Space and Missile
Systems Center's Detachment 12, which manages the DOD Space Test Program.
In addition, the directorate's Battlespace Environment Division, located
at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., provides physics-based modeling and
operates the C/NOFS data center.

"The C/NOFS satellite is unique because this is the first time any
organization has the right suite of instruments in the right orbit for
understanding and forecasting ionospheric scintillation," Dr. Laila Jeong,
C/NOFS program manager, said. "The satellite will forecast outages in DOD
satellite communication links that are caused by ionospheric
scintillation."

During its planned one year demonstration operations in space, C/NOFS will
fly in a low-earth orbit of approximately 375 by 710 kilometers, and the
six onboard sensors, including a neutral wind monitor, ion velocity
monitor, radio beacon, global positioning system receiver for remote
ionospheric sensing, vector electric field instrument and planar langmuir
probe, will provide data products to be used by the joint warfighter on
the ground. At the end of its scheduled 12-month demonstration mission,
the satellite's capability will transition to the Air Force Space Command
for the remainder of its estimated lifetime of four to five years.

Forecasting where and when ionospheric scintillation will occur represents
the primary benefit of the C/NOFS spacecraft. With this cutting edge
technology, however, researchers will also be able to predict when DOD
communication satellites will experience disruptions, which impact
military information systems. Ionospheric scintillation, a nighttime
phenomenon, occurs most frequently 20 degrees above and below the equator.

After completing testing and evaluation at the contractor facility in
Arizona, the spacecraft will be mated with the Orbital Sciences' Pegasus
launch vehicle at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and then will be
placed on the belly of a specifically modified L1011 aircraft for
transport to the U.S. Army's Reagan Test Site, U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll,
Republic of the Marshall Islands, located approximately 2,135 miles
southwest of the Hawaiian Islands. Unlike most satellites, which are
launched into the cosmos from a landbased facility, C/NOFS will be placed
into orbit by the Pegasus rocket, which will be released from a center pod
positioned on the same L1011 jet while in flight.

Almost six years will have transpired from program approval to scheduled
launch, but the idea for C/NOFS came to fruition in the late 1990s when
researchers serving with the Space Vehicles Directorate developed an idea
to combine space measurements and ground-based data of the ionosphere with
cutting-edge physics to forecast scintillation in the ionosphere which is
located in the lower part of space from about 100 to 800 kilometers above
the earth.

In 2000, the Space Vehicles Directorate entered into a memorandum of
agreement with the SMC's Space Test Program regarding the C/NOFS project.
As a result, AFRL would provide the satellite's scientific instrumentation
and the STP would supply the spacecraft bus and launch vehicle. Testing
and evaluation of the C/NOFS six sensor payload occurred at Kirtland Air
Force Base, and the payload was later integrated into the spacecraft at
General Dynamics' facility in Gilbert, Ariz. The C/NOFS project has
encountered some setbacks such as a major delay to rebuild the spacecraft
harness. Nevertheless, the space vehicle has been constructed and appears
ready for launch in the next few months.

"C/NOFS is the first ever space mission dedicated to forecasting
ionospheric scintillation and its impact to DOD communication systems,"
Dr. Jeong said. "We have also had a very dedicated effort developing our
physics-based forecasting models, which were developed primarily by Space
Vehicles Directorate scientists."

Once launched, SMC Det 12's Space Vehicle Operations Directorate will
manage flight operations for the year-long space demonstration mission. In
addition, the C/NOFS data center, located at Hanscom AFB, will receive
satellite, ground-based, and geophysical data, as well as will generate
forecasting products for use by the joint warfighter. The data center
facility has been operating since October 2004.

The future of predicting scintillation effects on America's military
communication links has been advanced with the upcoming launch and
operation of the communication/navigation outage forecasting system
spacecraft.

IMAGE CAPTIONS:

[Image 1:
http://www.vs.afrl.af.mil/News/Images/05-21a.jpg (175KB)]
C/NOFS Project Logo (courtesy of Dr. Laila Jeong)

[Image 2:
http://www.vs.afrl.af.mil/News/Images/05-21b.jpg (177KB)]
C/NOFS Satellite in EMI Chamber

The communication /navigation outage forecasting system spacecraft
undergoes testing in an electromagnetic interference chamber at General
Dynamics, Spectrum Astro Space Systems, Gilbert, Ariz. (courtesy of Dr.
Laila Jeong)

[Image 3:
http://www.vs.afrl.af.mil/News/Images/05-21c.jpg (295KB)]
C/NOFS Scale Model

Model of the communication/navigation outage forecasting system satellite
scheduled for launch in February 2006. (courtesy of Dr. Laila Jeong)


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