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The U.S. Army new nano-satellites

Tuesday, 28.04.2009

The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command received the first batch of new nano-satellites on the 28th of April. The SMDC-ONE satellites each weigh less than 10 pounds and are about 10×10x32 centimeters or approximately 4×4x13 inches in size. First satellite will be placed on low Earth orbit in 2009, remaining seven at a later date. Demonstration of usage will be held at USASMDC/ARSTRAT on Redstone Arsenal.

Usually satellite development takes years and cost billions of dollars, but this eight units, each weighting only 4 kilograms, were produced only in under a year, at less then $1 million each.

The relative low cost of a single satellite enables USASMDC/ARSTRAT to manufacture and put entire constellation of nanosat-class satellites on low Earth orbit. For the future USASMDC/ARSTRAT is considering the usage of different configurations of nanosats. That way they can ensure mission specific setups.

Low cost satellite constellation instead of one-unit traditional military satellite ensures the persistent presence over a given theater. Also the low cost enables the rapid reconstitution of a single satellite if it’s lost.

The SMDC-ONE program is managed by the USASMDC/ARSTRAT Technical Center, Space Division. The design and development effort was primarily conducted at Miltec Corporation located in Huntsville, Alabama, with portions of the design and integration testing performed at Miltec’s System Integration and Test Facility located in Iuka, Mississippi. Miltec worked closely with the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center for flight qualification and subsystem testing. Delivery of the SMDC-ONE satellites signals the beginning of the launch integration and technical demonstration planning phase.

Miltec Corporation is a leading technology company with design, development, integration and test capabilities in the areas of missiles, space, sensors and simulation.