Headlines

A Grand Finale

(Photo courtesy of US Air Force)

The last Titan rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base Oct. 19, 2005, carrying a national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Launch of the Titan IV B-26 was the final mission for the Titan IV and the culmination of a long evolution from the original Titan ICBM. The Titan IV was developed to launch the nation's heaviest and most critical payloads. It was the 200th Titan launch from Vandenberg.

"In addition to congratulating today's Titan team, I'd like to congratulate The Aerospace Corporation for making major contributions to the Titan program from the very beginning of the Space Launch Vehicle Program in the 1960s," said Ray Johnson, vice president, Space Launch Operations. "We can all be very proud of the contributions that we've made to national security space through our support of the Titan," he added.

The mission was dedicated to three recently deceased Titan team members. Lenny Hoops of Aerospace was one of the honorees. His name was affixed to the rocket's upper stage, which will remain in orbit. Hoops, who died April 1, 2005, served as an expert in ground control and monitoring system hardware and software used to test Titan IV rockets at Vandenberg.

Command and Control

Satellite operations for the Air Force's DSCS III and Milstar communications satellites have transitioned to the new integrated Command and Control System–Consolidated (CCS–C). The system provides telemetry, command, control, and mission planning. Modifications to support two other satellite communications systems, the Wideband Gapfiller and Advanced EHF, are under way.

CCS–C eliminates milsatcom's reliance on the command and control functions of the legacy Air Force Satellite Control Network, providing more modern computer hardware and software. "The AFSCN was phasing out support of the legacy TT&C system. Minimum sustainment costs were high, and the architecture did not allow for incorporation of new requirements," explains Mary Rich, Principal Director, Software Engineering Subdivision.

CCS–C will substantially reduce operation and sustainment costs by exploiting the capabilities of existing satellite control systems, including those based on commercial off-the-shelf products.

Aerospace has been involved in the CCS–C acquisition from its inception. "Aerospace was key in developing and executing an innovative acquisition approach, keeping competition through a demonstration phase," said Rich. Aerospace technical support included: definition, validation, and coordination of the CCS–C operational and functional requirements for milsatcom satellite programs; formulation of conceptual architectures, cost estimates, schedules, and acquisition plans; technical assessment of contractors' system designs to ensure that requirements would be met and risks adequately managed; and review of system test plans and procedures for accuracy and completeness. Additionally, Aerospace developed strategies for engineering changes to the program baseline, prepared technical inputs for the Request for Engineering Change Proposals, and evaluated the contractors' technical, cost, and management approaches. CCS–C will provide "improved operational capabilities for substantial savings in sustainment," said Rich.

Transforming Space

Aerospace CEO and president William Ballhaus and Aerospace Institute Executive Director David Evans represented The Aerospace Corporation at "Transforming Space: California Innovation, Infrastructure and Intellectual Capital." The conference, held in Los Angeles in December, 2005, highlighted California's accomplishments in national security, civil, and commercial space, as well as space-related education.

Ballhaus led a panel on accessing space that looked at NASA and Department of Defense future launch-vehicle needs: NASA's launch vehicle to replace the space shuttle (which will be retired by 2010), and DOD vehicles capable of launching a broad spectrum of payloads, from microsats to large communication satellites. Evans participated in a panel that looked at science and technology challenges of educating the space workforce of the future: how to ensure the future workforce will be available to continue this nation's space exploration activities and access to space.

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) was instrumental in launching the conference, and SMC Commander Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel was keynote speaker. The conference was jointly sponsored by the California Space Authority and the California Space Education and Workforce Institute.

A Collaboration for Innovation

Aerospace and Sandia National Laboratories are investigating opportunities for interactive research and development in a broad range of scientific areas that support national security.

The two research organizations signed a memorandum of understanding calling for interaction in space microelectronics and component technologies, sensor and instrument systems, spacecraft technologies, systems technologies, information technologies, and space simulation and modeling tools.

Mike Drennan, vice president for Space Operations, Requirements, and Technology at Aerospace, said he is pleased to be able to have a more formal relationship with Sandia.

"We see great prospects for this relationship to bloom, as we have already identified a number of areas of mutual interest where each organization brings a very special expertise to help with national security space activities and challenges," he said. "Aerospace looks forward to a long and productive relationship."

Sandia will identify applications for its hypervelocity impact modeling capability and its possible use for intercept debris characterization. Aerospace will provide space architecture systems engineering to support Sandia demonstrations. The two organizations will exchange personnel and share expertise and experience.

New Horizons

(Photo courtesy of JPL/NASA)

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is on its way to a "scientific reconnaissance" with Pluto, the last planet in our solar system to be visited by spacecraft. New Horizons, the fastest spacecraft ever launched, will reach lunar orbit distance in just nine hours, pass Jupiter 13 months later, and cross the entire solar system to reach Pluto and its moon Charon in 2015.

Launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral in January, New Horizons will conduct flyby studies of Pluto and Charon. Seven science instruments on the probe will study surface properties, geology, interior makeup, and atmospheres.

Pluto is an "ice dwarf" planet in the Kuiper Belt, the icy third zone of the solar system. Because ice dwarfs were formed more than 4 billion years ago and are bodies from which the larger planets accumulated, the findings of New Horizons may also contribute to scientific understanding of planet formation. New Horizons will be in the area approximately five months and then move on to study surfaces of other Kuiper Belt objects. It will not return to Earth.

Aerospace has supported the New Horizons Pluto mission in several areas, which included supporting NASA headquarters in evaluating and selecting the mission, serving on a nonadvocate review board during the preliminary design review, and assessing the launch vehicle performance. Aerospace also reviewed the probe's radioisotope thermoelectric generator, capable of powering the entire spacecraft (which operates on less power than a pair of 100-watt household light bulbs).

Modernized GPS

GPS IIR-14M will provide two additional M-code signals on L1 and L2 for military use.

The first of a new fleet of modernized Global Positioning System satellites was placed into orbit September 25, 2005. GPS IIR-14M is the first of eight Block IIR-M satellites scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral within the next two years.

The Block IIR-M satellites will provide a new civil signal (L2C) and a higher-power military (M-code) signal. The M-code signal will reduce the vulnerability of military GPS-supported platforms, while the L2C will improve navigation accuracy for civilian users.

"The modernized GPS satellites transmit new navigational signals to both military and civilian users, thereby increasing navigational accuracy and availability for all users," said Dave Gorney, vice president of Space Program Operations at Aerospace.

The Delta II launch also marked the 42nd consecutive successful launch for the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, tying the record for the most successful launches by the Air Force.

To Spring 2006 Table of Contents