U.S. AIR FORCE Academy teams-up with local industry to advance satellite technology

  • Published
  • By Amy Gillentine
  • Academy Research Department
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  The U.S. Air Force Academy's Space Systems Research Center is partners with more than a dozen industries, from Boulder to Colorado Springs, to take FalconSAT-6 from the drawing board into low earth orbit.

When the latest version of the Falcon Satellite is scheduled to go into orbit in 2015, it will contain parts and software manufactured along the Front Range.

"We have a relationship with some of these companies going back to 2006," said Lt. Col. David Barnhart, the SSRC director and faculty member overseeing the project, which serves as a capstone course for junior and senior cadets. And, we've added more since we started FalconSAT-6 two years ago."

Over the years, the FalconSAT program has morphed from very simple satellites completed nearly all in-house, to the FalconSAT-6, which is more complicated and has a larger mission.

"Reliability is the key," Barnhart said. "What we've learned is that spacecraft are complex, and partnering is essential to ensuring reliability and continued space operations."
And that need coincided with something else: the rise of aerospace as a Colorado industry.

In 1997, when the Academy started its first satellite program called Falcon GOLD, the aerospace companies were mostly all in California. But now the Centennial State is No. 2 in the nation for aerospace jobs, and has a diverse mix of government, commercial and civil aerospace entities pointing to future growth and development.

"These companies allow us to simplify the process and reduce the internal workload," Barnhart said. "It reduces the risk as well. So, as faculty mentors, we can spend more time on cadet education. We still do a lot of things here to give the cadets a chance to work on machining small parts and building electronics interfaces."

Most of the companies are paid for their products but a few collaborate with the program to make sure things are done well, he said.

"Companies like First RF, InStar, Lockheed Martin -- they're all providing some give-and-take," Barnhart said. "If we send them a design, they let us know a better way of doing things for the program and for future programs."

Companies are paid in a variety of ways. If the amount is small enough, Barnhart can use the Government Purchasing Card and the GSA Schedule. Others are competitively bid by the Academy or by the Air Force Research Lab, which provides the funding for the multi-million dollar project.

Six contractors and about 40 cadets are involved in the complex production, Barnhart said.

"That's really the biggest number ever," he said. "While we send some of the component parts outside the Academy to be built, we keep some in-house, so cadets really get an idea of what it's like.

Once FalconSAT-6 is launched, cadets will be able to gather information from the satellite -- in this case, programmed supporting space situational awareness experiments and demonstrating future satellite technology, such as next-generation solar cells.

Building a spacecraft from scratch takes several different areas of expertise. In the case of FalconSAT-6, the Academy teams with companies like Absolute Machine in Colorado Springs to craft the satellite's large panels of aluminum that require computer numerically controlled machining for space flight requiring a light weight while retaining strength and rigidity. The SSRC designs the panels and sends the file to the Springs company, where they can finish the product in days.

"If we did it in-house, it would take two weeks, working fulltime," Barnhart said.
First RF in Boulder provides a specialized payload antenna for FalconSAT-6. The company specializes in building antenna designs for a variety of customers, including the Defense Department.

"The coolest thing about working with the cadets is that we're working with young leaders who will be our future customers," said Arian Lalezari, technology area lead for advanced programs at First RF. "It's a unique opportunity to build relationships with people who will be leading the decisions in the future. We work with other universities, but the Academy really stands out -- it's the neatest place to work with."

And First RF doesn't simply supply the antennas, Lalezari said. The company provides a certain amount of advice and collaboration.

"We tend to collaborate whenever we have a significant payload," he said. "We customize it a little bit. We've found a more open, more collaborative work approach keeps the costs down and performance up."

Analytical Graphics Inc. is headquartered in Pennsylvania but with offices in Colorado Springs. The creator of a software program known as the Satellite Toolkit, the company provides an educational copy of the software to the Academy and other universities.
"We have a strong commitment to education," said Stephanie Efpimiades, education program specialist. "We firmly believe in giving back to education -- it's the roots of success for business and the nation as a whole."

Cadets work with the software, which provides modeling and simulation technology for satellites -- allowing them to figure out how the satellite will operate for the first part of its orbit, all the way out to five years after its launch.

While each company plays a specific role, it's up to the cadets and the Academy faculty to conduct the systems engineering and research to prepare the satellite for launch, Barnhart said. The process takes years.

"(Cadets) leave here with hands-on experience about how satellites are built," he said. "They're learning space by doing space."

Some Academy industry partners:
· Absolute Machine, Colorado Springs: Provides aluminum panels with computer numerically controlled machining for space flight.
· Advanced Circuits and Advanced Assembly, Aurora: Builds printed circuit boards based on engineering design.
· Analytical Graphics Inc., Colorado Springs: Provides free software that predicts satellite orbit to determine mission performance.
· Apogee, Colorado Springs: Provides technical support through an advisory and assistance contractor.
· Ball Aerospace Technology, Boulder: Provides use of its antenna ranges for ground testing.
· First RF, Boulder: Acts as a consultant to design antenna to help FalconSATs study the effects of the ionosphere.
· Instar, Littleton: Specializes in the area of spacecraft structural modeling and analysis.
· L-3 Communications, Larkspur: Provides free academic use of its satellite ground station software, InControl.
· Lockheed Martin, Littleton: Provides next-generation solar cell experiment to fly on FalconSAT-6.
· Qualtek Manufacturing, Colorado Springs: Provides custom finishing services for the FalconSAT to protect from corrosion and make sure the panels meet thermal and electrical requirements.
· Rhode & Schwartz, Colorado Springs: Builds specialized radio frequency test equipment.
· RT Logic, Colorado Springs: Produces radio frequency test equipment.
· Spectrum AMT, Colorado Springs: The FalconSAT's primary source of fabrication.