2013
2013 – Orbital Astrophysics Systems
Many astrophysics missions use telescopes aboard spacecraft to circumvent the atmospheric interference inherent to all Earth-bound facilities. Free of these constraints, space-based telescopes can scan the universe using sensors sensitive various parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
2013 – U.S. Missile Detection
Satellites are essential tools for detecting hostile missiles being fired at allied forces. Systems such as the USAF Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS)-High program are designed to monitor and give maximum warning of ballistic missile launches originating anywhere on the planet. The system consists of two HEO satellites, three Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) spacecraft in LEO, as well as two GEO satellites, the most recent one being launched in March 2013.
2013 – Military Communications
Dedicated and secure communications links are vital to defense agencies around the world. Increasing demand for capacity—particularly secure connectivity using non-commercial frequency bands—has driven the deployment of dedicated military communications satellites. The U.S. military buys a significant portion of its capacity from commercial operators such as Intelsat and SES. However, the United States also relies on military-specific systems such as the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) program, supplying dedicated communications to U.S. and allied military forces around the globe.
2013 – Military Reconnaissance
Military-specific observation satellites can be used for reconnaissance or other intelligence-gathering purposes. The capabilities of remote sensing satellites can sometimes obscure whether or not they are being used for civilian or military applications.
2013 – Meteorology
Weather satellites are a major segment of remote sensing satellites. Most weather satellites are in GEO or polar LEO orbits and have traditionally been operated by national governments for near-term weather forecasting. However, austere government budgets have caused weather-focused agencies to struggle to sustain existing programs under reduced funding. Maintaining existing programs with old, albeit reliable, data acquisition capabilities potentially inhibits the development and introduction of new, higher quality instrumentation that could increase accuracy.
2013 – Earth Observation and Remote Sensing Overview
While communications satellites retransmit artificial signals from one part of the Earth to another, and PNT satellites simply transmit precise artificial signals to terrestrial receivers, remote sensing satellites collect naturally generated signals from the Earth’s surface, convert them to data, and send them to Earth-bound observers. Remote sensing satellites provide detailed images of the Earth and collect a wide variety of measurements from space, such as ocean temperature, vegetation coverage, or pollution levels.
2013 – U.S. Space Surveillance Network
Space situational awareness (SSA) is an important national security mission with strong dual-use applications. SSA systems are dedicated to tracking and characterizing every object in Earth’s orbit, making sure objects do not come close enough to each other to pose a risk of collision. They do this by scanning the sky with optical and radar-based sensors, tracking the positions and courses of orbital objects, and predicting their future positions. Most SSA information is collected from ground-based systems—there are only a few satellites that contribute data to this function.
2013 – U.S.: SBSS
The U.S. Space Based Surveillance System (SBSS) satellite, launched in 2010, uses an optical sensor to detect objects in space as it orbits around Earth. It has an expected lifespan of 5.5 years and was designed as a pathfinder for a proposed series of similar satellites.
2013 – Canada: Sapphire
The ability to minimize false detections of missile launches is a feature of Canada’s Sapphire spacecraft, launched in February 2013. The C$## million (US$## million) spacecraft, which features a unique orbit that positions it to track light reflected off of objects in space, offers space surveillance data to both Canada and the United States. Canada’s Sapphire satellite began contributing data on orbiting space objects to the Space Surveillance Network (SSN) system in January 2014.
2013 – Brazilian Spaceports
In 2003, Brazil made an agreement with the government of Ukraine to bring a modernized version of the Soviet-era Cyclone rocket to its Alcântara Launch Center. This would couple the proven reliability of the Ukrainian launch vehicle with the advantageous equatorial location of Alcântara to offer highly competitive prices to commercial clients.