A team of Air Force researchers and industry engineers have completed a major system-level test of the interfaces between the first space based infrared systems satellite and the satellite’s ground segment. The Air Force anticipates launching this SBIRS satellite, designated GEO-1, in early 2011. This test successfully demonstrated that the SBIRS ground segment will be able to command and control GEO-1 using a modem called the tri-band antenna/modem suite, said officials in the SBIRS program office at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., in a July 29 release. Among the additional test objectives achieved, the team demonstrated the ability to transmit and receive data between GEO-1 and the ground systems using rapidly changing frequencies, a process known as “frequency hopping,” they said. This test took place over two days.
The Air Force’s nascent KC-Z program, aimed at developing a next-generation family of systems for aerial refueling, will look to launch its analysis-of-alternatives study in 2024, years earlier than originally planned. Originally, the analysis of alternatives for KC-Z was set for “maybe in the 2030s,” Paul Waugh, program executive officer…