Dec 21 2009
From The Space Library
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded a Phase-2 contract valued at US$74.6 million over a one-year period of performance to Orbital Sciences Corporation, to develop the final design for System F6—Future Fast, Flexible, Fractionated, Free-Flying Spacecraft. DARPA intended for the System F6 program to develop and demonstrate the basic building blocks of radically new space architecture, with clusters of wirelessly interconnected spacecraft modules replacing multifunctional monolithic spacecraft. DARPA hoped that System F6 would increase budgetary and planning flexibility and reduce the overall risk of building new spacecraft, as well as enabling faster initial deployment. In addition, DARPA believed that this approach would contribute to greater survivability of spacecraft, in part because engineers would be able to replace selectively the damaged and obsolete elements of a complex spacecraft. DARPA had selected Orbital’s design from among four competing study contracts issued in 2008 and 2009. In Phase 2 of the System F6 program, Orbital would be responsible for the detailed design and ground-testing of new technologies, architectures, and programmatic concepts, such as wireless data communications, cluster-flight operations, distributed spacecraft computing systems, rapidly relocatable ground systems, and value-centric design methodologies. Among Orbital’s program partners were IBM and NASA’s JPL.
Orbital Sciences Corporation, “Orbital Awarded Phase 2 Contract for ‘System F6’ Satellite Program by DARPA,” news release, 18 December 2009, http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/PrinterFriendly.asp?prid=714 (accessed 21 December 2011); Amy Klamper, “Orbital Wins DARPA Contract for Spacecraft Clusters,” Space News, 18 December 2009.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
