Streamlined access to space for DoD small spacecraft

Abstract

The Department of Defense (DoD) has initiated a proposal that would establish a single office to support all secondary spacecraft access to space issues. No single office exists today to handle these issues. NASA has an office to manage NASA secondary spacecraft access to space issues. This DoD office would complement NASA's. The DoD Space Test Program (STP) is the organization charged with developing and implementing this new concept. The two key features of the concept are: • Develop a single DoD office for secondary payload management • Develop a single DoD office that manages DoD Launch Vehicle margin With the evolution of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, it has become apparent that a great deal of performance margin will exist on many flights; thus the opportunity to accommodate secondary spacecraft exists at unprecedented levels. However, there is no process for customers to access this DoD margin. Today, STP currently provides (or acquires) all functions necessary to fly DoD research and development payloads. It is logical that STP could assume the broader duties and act as the single office for all secondary spacecraft issues. This paper will outline the current DoD process, review the proposed concept, and provide the current status of the proposal. INTRODUCTION Presently, no single, centralized organization exists within the Department of Defense (DoD) that is responsible for managing spaceflight for non-primary space payloads. A survey of performance margin on current and future DoD launch vehicles (LV) indicates that there is an unprecedented capability to launch secondary payloads within available capacity. As a result, the need has been identified for a single, centralized organization within the DoD to coordinate all secondary payloads requiring access to space using this excess performance margin, as well as maintain visibility into and leverage spacelift opportunities on non-DoD LVs. Such an office would provide cost savings to the government resulting from economies of scale as well as providing the experience and expertise necessary for efficient program implementation. The DoD Space Test Program (STP) has been tasked to explore the possibility of conducting such a service for the DoD. The mission of STP currently is to Provide access to space for DoD research and development (R&D) payloads consistent with opportunity, priority, and funding. It is logical for STP to expand from its present mission to that of accommodating all other DoD secondary space payloads as well. Payloads, in the context of this paper, refers to small satellites, individual instruments, or experiment bundles. The latter two payload classes would require the procurement of a spacecraft (SC). This paper is declared a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. (c)2001 American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics or Published with Permission of Author(s) and/or Author(s)' Sponsoring Organization.