Offensive War in Space
(Launchspace Staff Writers)
Bethesda, MD - A new arms race is unfolding among spacefaring nations. Space experts have been telling us about contested space for the last several years. Today, there are about 1,300 active satellites in a crowded nest of Earth orbits. They provide worldwide communications, GPS navigation, weather forecasting and planetary surveillance. Military organizations rely on many of these satellites in support of modern warfare. The three main contenders are the U.S., China and Russia. The ongoing power struggle may ignite a conflict that could cripple the entire space-based infrastructure while reducing the capabilities of warfighter organizations.
There are several ways to disable, destroy or reduce effectiveness of satellites. One obvious way is to attack them with anti-satellite devices. Another is to simply approach a satellite and spray paint over its optics. Other ways include manually snapping off communications antennas and destabilizing orbits. Lasers can temporarily or permanently disable satellite components. Ground station interference using radio or microwave emissions can jam or hijack transmissions to or from ground controllers.
The concept of war in space is not new. The prospect of Soviet nuclear weapons launched from orbit in the 1950s motivated the U.S. to begin the testing of anti-satellite weaponry. Fortunately, orbiting weapons of mass destruction were banned through the UN Outer Space Treaty of 1967. Consequently, space-based surveillance became a major component of the Cold War that served as an early-warning system for the deployment or launch of ground-based nuclear weapons.
Throughout most of the Cold War, the U.S.S.R. developed and tested "space mines" which could self-detonate in order to destroy U.S. spy satellites. The militarization of space issue peaked again when President Reagan initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative to develop orbital countermeasures against Soviet ballistic missiles. In 1985, the USAF staged a demonstration when an F-15 fighter jet launched a missile that took out a failing U.S. satellite in low orbit.
Today, the situation is much more complicated. Low- and high-Earth orbits have become hotbeds of scientific and commercial activity, filled with hundreds of satellites from about 60 different nations. Despite their largely peaceful purposes each satellite is at risk because a few military space powers insist on continued development and test of new space weapons.
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Launchspace Offers Two New Courses on Space Costing and Robotics
Now Available for Presentation at Your Facility
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Space Mission Cost Estimation
DURATION: THREE DAYS
COURSE NO.: 6020
LOCATION: AT YOUR FACILTY
COURSE SUMMARY
This course is designed to help engineers and managers produce and assess cost estimates for space systems. It assumes that attendees have a basic understanding of common cost analysis methodologies, but limited experience with space systems. Course training objectives include cost review planning; identification of needed key programmatic, technical and cost data; determination of typical cost ranges for components. Attendees will discuss various missions and their effects on system architecture, design and cost. They will learn to describe major components of typical space systems with a focus on functions, common design approaches and implications for cost. Typical cost-risk areas and schedule problems are discussed. Topics include small satellites, cost improvement in low-volume programs, use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for space applications and challenges of cost estimating under evolutionary acquisition.
COURSE MATERIALS:
Course notes, slides, reference materials and a cost estimation spreadsheet are provided.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Space industry professionals interested in learning a structured process for estimating the cost of developing and operating a space system. Legal and regulatory professionals, decision makers and policy makers in industry, government, industry associations and end-user organizations.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
A brief introduction to the importance of space systems. Challenges of developing accurate estimates of space system costs with an overview of different space systems. Guidelines for planning and conducting cost reviews. Data requirements with likely sources and common problem areas. Average costs and cost ranges for space vehicles, subsystems and components. Descriptions of common issues encountered in estimating cost of space programs. Summary descriptions of some common cost models available for space programs. A checklist for cost risk analysis and a bibliography of sources of additional information.
COURSE OUTLINE:
- Introduction to Space Systems.
Historical summary. Basic definitions, concepts, fundamentals of space systems, and their effects on costs.
- Orbits and Geometry.
Important geometric concepts, coverage. Understanding orbits and the effect of orbit selection on mission costs.
- Space System Components.
Major components of typical space systems, focusing on functions and common design approaches and their implications for cost. Highlights of typical risk areas develop a sense of where cost and schedule problems have occurred in past programs.
- Cost Reviews.
Guidelines for planning and conducting a typical review, data requirements and likely sources, and common problem areas.
- Vehicle and Subsystem Costs.
Average costs and ranges for space vehicles, subsystems, and components to provide a source of readily accessible crosschecks and a resource for estimating the end points of risk distributions.
- Issues.
Common issues encountered in estimating the cost of space programs.
- A Representative Cost Model.
A cost model for a low-Earth-orbiting remote sensing mission is presented. Inputs to the model are discussed, and sensitivities of cost to changes in requirements are analyzed.
INSTRUCTOR: Richard Colarco
Richard Colarco has over 40 years of experience in space systems design, intelligence, and surveillance. He was a radar engineer on the Apollo lunar missions and he served for 22 years in the US Air Force as a navigator, electronic warfare officer, intelligence officer and space operator. And, he was a crewmember on B-52 and RC-135 aircraft. Mr. Colarco led an engineering division developing advanced electronic warfare systems for future aircraft and directed airborne reconnaissance operations in Korea. He also served as deputy commander of the Space Surveillance Network. After leaving the military, Mr. Colarco worked in development, modification and maintenance of many optical and radar ground-based and space-based space surveillance systems. He conducted two in-depth radar surveys of the space debris environment and was chief engineer on the development of a classified US Air Force satellite communications system. He is also an adjunct professor of physics and mathematics for several universities. Mr. Colarco holds a BS in physics and advanced degrees in operations research. Space Robotics: Design and Applications
DURATION: THREE DAYS
COURSE NO.: 2035
LOCATION: AT YOUR FACILTY
COURSE SUMMARY
This course explores the technologies required for the successful design of rovers and manipulators for space applications. Space robotics have applications to exploration, satellite servicing, refueling, logistics and orbital debris removal. Due to potentially long distances between operator and robot resulting in long latencies and the extreme environments of space, robotics requires special attention to redundant actuators, multi-sensor systems and advanced computer processing systems (also referred in total as mechatronics). Class discussions include a review of robotic basics emphasizing different forms of mobility, autonomous navigation, terrain mapping, path planning, arm kinematics, human-robot interfaces (HRI) and end-point control of serial appendage(s). Examples of robotics include applications of artificial intelligence, teleoperation and autonomy, and humanoids for space (for Intra-Vehicular Activities or Extra-Vehicular Activities) maintenance and repair. In addition, robots require internal state estimation, planning, and external sensing using cameras, lights, and LIDAR devices. Lectures also explore the maturation of technologies from cybernetics, to fuzzy control, to behavior-based approaches, and more recently from statistical estimation to artificial intelligence techniques.
The course includes examples of systems to demonstrate remote mapping, unknown terrain traversability, obstacle avoidance, Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), pick and place tasks, space manufacturing, and assembly in space. Typical examples include the shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS), the Robonaut, SPHERES project, the Curiosity Rover and the future Mars Helicopter Scout.
COURSE MATERIALS
Each attendee receives extensive notes and reference materials.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
The course is for engineers, scientists, business managers, and engineering managers of diverse background and with varying levels of experience, including those who are new to robotics and artificial intelligence. This class would appeal to individuals who are involved in planning robotic projects, designing systems, building, testing, and the operations of space robotics. Technologists who wish to expand their knowledge base in telepresence, bi-lateral force feedback, hand controllers, predictive displays, exoskeletons, and voice control.Systems engineers who need to know how to integrate multi-disciplinary engineering projects, especially those that are software intensive and where safety is a major concern.Program managers needing more data on current developments in autonomy, hardware cost trends and business case economics.Educators who teach related topics in coordinate transformations and SIMO/MIMO control problems.In summary, this is a must course if you are addressing the Fourth Industrial Evolution and taking advantage of improved processing following Moore's Law.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
Fundamentals of manipulation and autonomous navigation
Examples of free-flyers, astronaut aids, robot colonies, robots on space station
Design approaches for communications, time delay, tooling, robot hands
Trends in Cobots, Robot Operating Systems (ROS) and Augmented Reality (AR) Toolkits
COURSE OUTLINE:
Robotic Systems and the Role of the Human in a Human/Robot System
Sheridan, Cybernetics, Moore's Law, Turing Test
Rover Mobility
Wheels, legs, tracks
Rover Navigation - local and global
Localization, Mapping, Path Planning, Obstacle Avoidance
Space Hardware (including the Rocker Boggy, Drills, and End Effectors)
Terrain Interaction testbeds, Environmental Testing, Test yards
Computer Vision for Satellite Inspection
Filtering, segmentation, finding corners & edges, SIFT, object identification
Manipulator: Coordinate Transformations, Forward Kinematics, Inverse Kinematics, Jacobian
Position, Orientation, Matrix Operators, 6 DOF
Manipulator: Dynamics, Control, Trajectories, Path Planning
PI, PD, PID, Force Control, Position Control, Hybrid Control
Robot System Examples
Docking, Berthing, Multi-manipulators, mobile manipulators
Human and Robot Interfaces
INSTRUCTOR:
Wendell Chun is Adjunct Professor of Robotics and Systems Engineering at the University of Denver, and concurrently a lecturer/Research Professor at the University of Colorado Denver in Electrical Engineering. He is a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in robotics, mobile robots, autonomy, and artificial intelligence. Wendell has 33 years of hands-on experience in industry at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company where he was the principal investigator of various robotic R&D programs that featured Mars Rover designs, the teaming of robots, polymorphic robots, and flight manipulator designs. He is a technical advisor to different branches of the US government such as NASA and the Department of Energy, as well as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation and a SME for DARPA. He is an Associate Editor for the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation for 2018 and 2019. Wendell is the author of sections in NASA's Report to the US Congress on Satellite Servicing through NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. 
community since 1970. Early in his career, Dr. Marshall H. Kaplan realized that space professionals had limited resources in advancing their own space-related knowledge base and on-the-job training options. Over the last few decades this company has created and delivered hundreds of focused courses to thousands of engineers, managers and support personnel in the space community. All training subject matter and supporting materials are designed to increase knowledge and improve productivity associated with space technologies, systems and operations. These topics are not offered in a university setting.
Over the past 20 years, Launchspace has been offering company-specific courses that are tailored to the requirements of any given company to train its own personnel. These courses are presented on-site by experts in the particular subject areas. Such offerings have proven to be very cost-effective and efficient. Every major space organization in North America and Europe has taken advantage of Launchspace's Training programs. This includes government agencies such as NASA, USAF and several other offices of the Department of Defense.Course topics cover almost every aspect of space flight from launch vehicle technologies to orbital mechanics to spacecraft design. Our customized courses are offered at client locations in support of mission requirements and to expand the expertise of professional staff members. In addition, a few high-demand public classes are presented for open registration at selected conference locations. Contact us to discuss a customized training program for your professionals:See our website for a partial listing of possible course offerings www.launchspace.com_______________________________________________________________________________________________LAUNCHSPACE is an educational organization dedicated to training and continuing education for space professionals and to supporting the space community.We offer the largest array of customized client-site courses to government agencies and industry, and a full spectrum of technical and management expertise in support of space programs. Click on www.Launchspace.com to see our extensive catalog of course offerings. Any of these can be customized for your needs, or we can create a new course for you.Through our training programs we have helped thousands of engineers and managers become more productive in their careers. Our courses and programs are unique and customized for our clients. We focus on critical skills in all areas of spaceflight, spacecraft and launch systems.Our instructors are all experts in their fields and present highly interactive classes in-person and at your facilities.Please contact us for more information about our services at info@launchspace.com or +1.202.258.6133._______________________________________________________________________________________________
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