Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) High EMD

Abstract

The SBIRS RDT&E FY17 budget justification exhibits describe three elements of the SBIRS program: 1) the SBIRS Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) program of record PNO 210 MDAP, 2) the Space Modernization Initiative (SMI) (non-MDAP) and the 3) Evolved SBIRS follow-on (pre-MDAP PNO 499). 1. SBIRS EMD: The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) primary mission is to provide initial warning of a ballistic missile attack on the US, its deployed forces, and its allies. SBIRS enhances detection and improves reporting of intercontinental ballistic missile launches, submarine launched ballistic missile launches, and tactical ballistic missile launches. SBIRS supports Missile Defense, Battlespace Awareness, and Technical Intelligence missions by providing reliable, accurate, and timely data to Unified Combatant Commanders, Joint Task Force (JTF) Commanders, the intelligence community, and other users. SBIRS provides increased detection and tracking performance over legacy systems in order to meet requirements in Air Force Space Command's (AFSPC) Operational Requirements Document (ORD). The SBIRS system includes both space and ground elements. The space segment consists of Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites, payloads hosted on satellites in Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO), and Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites. The ground segment consists of both fixed and mobile data processing elements, communications infrastructure, and relay ground stations serving all SBIRS space elements. The three HEO payloads and two GEO satellites are on-orbit. Both GEO and two of the three HEO satellites have completed AFSPC and USSTRATCOM operational acceptance and are certified for Integrated Tactical Warning/Attack Assessment (ITW/AA) missile warning operations and technical intelligence operations. HEO-3 is in a storage/residual operational mode. The program of record ground segment development exploits both the new scanner and starer sensor data through software processing and builds user messages for missile warning and missile defense. Also, data exploitation efforts enable access to raw and processed data to expand capabilities for battlespace awareness and other applications. FY17 and FY18 funds support ground segment development. The baseline requirement document is the 1996 SBIRS ORD. Enterprise systems engineering and integration (SE&I) provides intra- and inter-program requirements development, enterprise master planning, validation and verification, specialty engineering, and architecture development. 2. SMI: The primary objective of SMI is to enable and inform future decisions to maintain and evolve a capable, resilient, and affordable OPIR architecture by maturing technologies and mitigating risk areas to facilitate OPIR modernization within the Department's constrained resources. SMI supports the Program of Record (PoR) by assessing future parts and material obsolescence and designing future space and ground modifications focused on affordability and capability while simultaneously maximizing the effectiveness of existing system data products. SMI funds engineering activities to reduce both production and future system costs through manufacturing and producibility enhancements and through technology insertion. SMI will also mature potential technology upgrades at the component and system level for future space and ground architecture affordability and capability enhancements. The SBIRS OPIR SMI plan includes studies and risk reduction activities to evolve the current PoR SBIRS constellation, reduce production timelines, and reduce recurring production costs. Based on the outcome of these studies, the Sensor Ground Demonstration will develop capability for current, next generation sensors, processors, and algorithms. SMI funded data exploitation efforts include OPIR mission data processing, data fusion, data dissemination, algorithm development, network connectivity, efficient interfaces and sensor performance assessments to enable greater exploitation of SBIRS PoR and other data sources. SMI exploitation efforts build upon PoR capabilities and inform the PoR decision process. The data exploitation efforts identify affordable, responsive and resilient measures to improve technical intelligence and battlespace awareness processing and data dissemination tools to enhance OPIR support to the warfighters and other data users. The SMI Hosted Payloads and Wide Field of View (WFOV) Testbed activities explore technology maturation, qualification of new components, and subsystem/component prototyping to evolve the OPIR architecture. Hosted Payloads and WFOV Testbeds support maturation of mission data processing algorithms for tactical and strategic applications which are critical demonstration efforts to enhance PoR capabilities and to reduce program risks for future OPIR systems, whether new systems or evolutions of the PoR. Collection of on-orbit WFOV data is critical to develop algorithms to process large data sets generated by emerging large format focal planes and to reduce risk for possible SBIRS follow-on architectures. SBIRS Enterprise Ground Services (EGS) infrastructure modernization efforts under SMI will introduce Telemetry, Tracking and Command systems (TT&C) and Ground Control automation, mission data processing as well as competition into SBIRS Ground with an emphasis to on-ramp to EGS as soon as practical. SMI activities are balanced and phased to enable an expanded tradespace and improve the competitive environment. In FY17, this program element supports EGS from the SMI BPAC. EGS is performing tech maturation, experiments and prototyping for increased commonality and resiliency in space program ground systems. 3. Evolved SBIRS Follow-on: The SBIRS Follow-On Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) and knowledge gained from the SBIRS SMI projects will inform a future Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) decision for the Evolved SBIRS effort. DAB alternatives are expected to include: 1) continued production of SBIRS PoR design with modernization changes; 2) an evolved satellite and ground system derived from the SBIRS POR designs; 3) an evolved satellite and ground system that includes a combination of PoR derivatives and new systems; or 4) an alternative architecture (potentially disaggregated). The Evolved SBIRS effort will implement the DAB directed program alternative. The Evolved SBIRS AoA will consider the requirement for global coverage in the post-GEO-6 and post-HEO-4 timeframe. This program element is in Budget Activity 5, System Development and Demonstration (SDD) because it has passed Milestone B approval and is conducting engineering and manufacturing development tasks aimed at meeting validated requirements prior to full-rate production.

Document Details

• Document Type: R2 Budgetary Justification
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2017
• Source ID: 0604441F_5_3600_PB_2017
• Change Summary Explanation: FY17 Other Adjustments: -$15.0M SMI re-phased to FY18 (+$9M) and FY19 (+$6M), -$1.813M inflation adjustments
• Service Agency Name: Air Force

Entities

Organizations

• United States Air Force

Tags

Communities of Interest

• Advanced Electronics
• C4I
• Cyber
• Engineered Resilient Systems
• Sensors
• Space
• Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

• Artificial Satellites
• Ballistic Missiles
• Combatant Commanders
• Command And Control
• Data Processing
• Detection
• Detectors
• Earth Orbits
• Elliptical Orbits
• Geosynchronous Satellites
• Military Research
• Reconnaissance Satellites
• Spacecraft
• Systems Engineering
• Test And Evaluation
• Test Equipment
• Test Facilities

Readers

• Aerospace Engineering.

Technology Areas

• Space
• Space - Satellites