Lockheed Martin has launched a new series of military tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) satellites designed to provide battlefield forces with long-range tracking of moving targets in an enemy environment in near real-time, according to the New Atlas website.
Mention the topic of space warfare and people conjure up images of splendor, like scenes from Star Wars, with ships blasting each other, but the reality is quite different. There may not be the titanium warplanes of the movies, but space is becoming one of the most important military domains, as the ultimate “high ground” is not only the site of increasingly sophisticated surveillance, but also the place where separate combat units on land, at sea and in the air are turned into a complex network and where artificial intelligence is used to conduct holistic operations.
Video: “Joint All-Domain Operation” (JADO) Source: Lockheed website
To achieve this goal, a series of satellites in orbit are needed to provide the backbone for the entire system. Lockheed’s latest contribution to this goal is its new family of ISR satellites. Based on the company’s LM400 medium satellite platform, these refrigerator-sized solar-powered spacecraft are designed with an open architecture that lends itself to mass manufacturing for improved economics. The goal is a constellation of satellites that can be used with different assets to achieve discovery-repair-completion-kill results at a faster rate.
Video: Multi-Domain Command and Control Source: Lockheed website
The Tactical ISR satellite uses the Open Mission System (OMS) and the Universal Command and Control Interface (UCI), enabling it to operate with different platforms and battle management systems. It is a software-defined platform so it can quickly adapt to changing threats and has the capability to provide up to 14 kilowatts for payloads weighing up to 3,300 pounds (1,500 kg). In addition, it has a hardened data processing system that supports in-theater low-latency sensor missions, orbital data processing, protected communications, direct situational awareness downlink and targeting information transfer.
“Digital engineering and manufacturing are accelerating our ability to deploy robust, future-proof constellations that use leading-edge technologies to serve our customers,” said Rick Ambrose, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space, “Our LM400 is a highly adaptable medium-sized satellite that is again capable of rapid and cost-effective mass production.”
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