Achieving OverTheHorizon Requirements Using Low Earth Orbit Satellites

Achieving Over-The-Horizon Requirements Using Low Earth Orbit Satellites (LEOS) Presented by Eric Saikin Page 1 of 35

Customer Requirements l To meet customers evolving requirements for threat representative systems in simulated tactical situations requires capabilities not currently available Page 2 of 35

Customer Requirements l Multiple (up to eight) air-launched targets in an Over-The-Horizon (OTH) engagement on a range with limited support l Ability to support fleet training l Ability to support open ocean exercises Page 3 of 35

Low Earth Orbit Satellite CONOPS Ground Station Page 4 of 35

LEOS/CIS System l What is it? l Low Earth Orbit Satellite (LEOS)/Command Interface Simulation (CIS) System Portable system for use at remote sites to control multiple vehicles over-the-horizon l Interoperable with existing range equipment l Page 5 of 35

Command & Control Data Link l Low Earth Orbit Satellite Utilizes low earth orbit satellite modems for data link for command control of vehicle l Vehicle GPS location and performance data is transmitted back to ground station via satellite modems l Bandwidth of satellite modem is sufficient to control vehicle l Globalstar currently has greater bandwidth than IRIDIUM l Page 6 of 35

Ground Station l Command Interface Simulation l Self-contained and portable and provides everything needed to conduct a complete mission at a remote site l Complete mission planning, checkout, control, situational awareness, and data reduction l Ethernet backbone enables extremely robust and flexible system using off-the-shelf components Page 7 of 35

LEOS/CIS System l Features l Small, lightweight, portable, and expandable system l High-speed Ethernet Local Area Network (LAN) enables all information to be shared amongst connected components l Off-the-shelf, ruggedized laptops provide reliable, replaceable, low maintenance equipment l Interoperable with existing range equipment by passing data back and forth Page 8 of 35

LEOS/CIS System l Features (cont’d) CIS System can connect to the internet via firewall if needed l LEOS can utilize Iridium satellite data service, in lieu of Globalstar, with reduced bandwidth l LEOS/CIS System can be used to control water or land vehicles l Basic concept can be expanded to REPLACE existing target/UAV control systems l Page 9 of 35

IRIDIUM Test l The flight test on 22 October 2002 demonstrated the ability to: Plan and simulate a flight path Modify and download an updated flight plan prior to launch via a remotely located Radio Frequency (RF) data link l Automatically control the flight path without operator intervention l Modify the flight path during the mission using an OTH data link l Perform payload operations during manual and automatic flight operation l l Page 10 of 35

Hardware NAL Research Corp IRIDIUM Data Modem Cloud Cap Technology Piccolo Avionics (Navigator) Vehicle Interface Box Page 11 of 35

Flight Segments l The flight lasted approximately 51 minutes and consisted of three segments: l Manual control using the normal flight control system to verify operational functionality l OTH control of the vehicle l Manual control of the vehicle during the recovery sequence Page 12 of 35

Flight Path Page 13 of 35

Segment Summary The vehicle was declared operationally functional after 11 minutes of flight l OTH control of the vehicle lasted for 36 minutes l Normal recovery operations were performed upon command release from OTH system flight control l During the OTH controlled flight segment, no pitch or throttle adjustments were made by the operators l Page 14 of 35

IRIDIUM Dropout l The IRIDIUM satellite communications link experienced one dropout lasting approximately 48 seconds l Simplistic redial software not optimized for fast reacquisition l Expect to be able to significantly reduce this time Page 15 of 35

Wide Turns Page 16 of 35

Straight Leg Cross Track Page 17 of 35

ITCS Data Rates Frames Per Second Uplink (Bits / Second) Downlink (Bits / Second) 45 6075 10890 30 4050 7260 15 2025 3630 10 1350 2420 Page 18 of 35

Data Rates l IRIDIUM – 1200 bps l Globalstar – 7200 bps Page 19 of 35

Demonstration Flight Test l First Flight – ability to control target using commercial Low Earth Orbit Satellites l Universal Replacement Auto Pilot (URAP) l Switch between three preplanned missions l Downlink GPS location and vehicle parameters for situational awareness display l Evaluate ability to control vehicle manually Page 20 of 35

Globalstar Satellite Orbits Low Earth Orbits ~700 Miles Up Page 21 of 35

Uplink Command Sent to Airborne LEOS DKW Over Globalstar Satellite Link and 900 MHz Line-of-Sight Link (~0. 35 Sec) Globalstar Satellite Low Earth Orbit ~700 Miles up 5 1 2 4 Globalstar Gateway at Clifton, Texas 3 URAP Equipped BQM-74 E with LEOS DKW (Globalstar Satellite & 900 MHz) Building 189 San Nicolas Island, CA Page 22 of 35

Global Satellite “Mutual Footprints” Globalstar Satellite Footprints ~3000 Mile Diameter Page 23 of 35

Globalstar Data Link Testing l Data rate – 7. 2 Kbps l Measured latency (92 samples) – 699 ms one-way l Measured connect/reconnect time (18 samples) – 6. 8 sec l Connection time l l Tests were run from one to three hours without a disconnect (engineers terminated the test) Reconnect time l After one minute with no power – modem reconnects in five seconds l Indicates very robust data link Page 24 of 35

URAP Low Altitude Sea Skim Capability with Satellite and UHF Control Links Globalstar Satellite Link (Over-The-Horizon) UHF Link (Line-Of-Sight) Page 25 of 35

Airborne Transponder (DKW) and Globalstar Antenna Page 26 of 35

3 missions with 3 turn radius for 60, 45, and 30 degree bank angles Launch Point Action Points San Nicolas First Flight Mission Plan in Falcon View Way Points Page 27 of 35

Situational Awareness Display Vehicle Flying in “Tube” Page 28 of 35

San Nicolas Island Launch Pad Control Building Page 29 of 35

BQM-74 E on Launch Pad Page 30 of 35

Globalstar Ground Station Page 31 of 35

LEOS Ground Terminal Page 32 of 35

Vehicle Control Panels Page 33 of 35

Situational Awareness Display Page 34 of 35

Results l All objectives met l Vehicle switched missions when commanded l Operator had no problem controlling vehicle in manual mode l Satellite data link worked as expected Page 35 of 35