“BEAMS”49 pages
- p. 3 …Free-Electron Laser Electron Beam Phase-Space Evolution ....................... 59
Figure 31. Recirculating-Beam FEL System ........................................................... 60…
- p. 4 …HEL Beam Pointer/Tracker ................................................................... 65
Figure 35. Basic Shared Aperture Beam Control System ......................................... 66
Figure 36…
- p. 7 …This can only be achieved via laser propulsion in
which the laser beam energy that is…
- p. 15 …By launching
spacecraft on a beam of electromagnetic radiation, researchers will have developed the
first new…
- p. 16 …The laser beam's pulse
interacts with the mirror, spreading out and focusing into an annular…
- p. 17 …1) power supply; 2) high-power (megawatt-class)
laser beam generator/transmitter using novel beam optics…
- p. 20 …is to the right and the laser beam strikes the stretched-out parabolic
mirror/propulsion section…
- p. 21 …It
requires a beam power of 0.1 to 1 MW per kg of vehicle mass…
- p. 22 …The ground-based
megawatt-class laser beam generator is state-of-the-art technology. The cost…
- p. 25 …Figure 8 illustrates the adverse beam
propagation geometry associated with ETO laser propulsion by means of…
- p. 26 …Attenuation Effects on Captured Laser Beam Power 261.
0.4
0.J
0.2
0.1…
- p. 27 …Unfortunately the demonstrated laser beam power levels for the attractive 1.62 μm
wavelength, which suffered…
- p. 28 …Beam combining
of several 1 MW (or higher) FELs can achieve a total combined beam output…
- p. 31 …Appropriate rotation of a high-energy laser beam,
emanating from a ground/sea-based laser, guides…
- p. 32 …Appropriate rotation and translation of a high-energy laser
beam, emanating from a moving aircraft, guides…
- p. 33 …But
multiple target interception within allowable time is limited by relatively long beam-
riding time needed…
- p. 37 …In this case, it is envisioned that the high-
pulsed power within high-energy laser beams…
- p. 39 …In this case, airborne laser beams at 12 km altitude will not suffer the
significant propagation…
- p. 41 …sidelobes, creates multiple beams, and steers the ensemble of the
individual beams anywhere on Earth. The…
- p. 42 …Each picosat is gravity-
gradient stable, has a dipole array facing Earth, and a broader beam…
- p. 43 …Commands for beam sweep delays are superimposed on the time delays of each
nanosat. Each nanosat…
- p. 44 …piezoelectric membrane kept flat by an electron beam in response to an optical figure
sensor. MEMS…
- p. 46 …technical issues include large wavelength and
atmospheric absorption of the laser beam.
• Carbon Monoxide (CO) Laser…
- p. 47 …125 Hz@ 20μs.
• Laser power, P = 2.5 MW/beam x 4 beams = 10 MW.
• Laser…
- p. 50 …Each power oscillator optics module transmitting a 2.5 MW beam of
10.6 μm wavelength…
- p. 52 …Adding an eight amplifier chain that the system was designed for will
increase the beam power…
- p. 53 …However,
BSSSL beam power can be scaled up further by improving presently known gain media
and…
- p. 54 …scalable
to 1 MW beam power within 2 years.
Typical solid-state lasers have the following…
- p. 55 …A new technology that enables the scaling-up of BSSSL beam power is a recently
developed…
- p. 56 …at the same time increasing the average
beam power.
Figure 21. Phase Change Materials Allow Storage…
- p. 57 …This exponential growth in beam output power is the result of many factors,
including the parallel…
- p. 58 …Microlens -O _
,:1
Incoherent Beam Combining 'Ind1vidually Incoherent Gaussian Beams i=L
Controlled
/_/Steering • ... o~bined…
- p. 59 …Neodymium
Thulium (Tm 3+), Holmium
- Range of beam wavelengths(),) produced: 0.48 μm to 2.9…
- p. 61 …Multlmode Fiber Lasers
50kW Multimode
Output beam quality BPP-1 o
M"2-33
DC EDE…
- p. 62 …The resulting laser beam photon energy depends on the
electron energy, the undulator period, and (weakly…
- p. 63 UNCLASSIFIED/ /F8~ 8FFl&I.«1k WliEii a,.klf
electron beam
( \ I,:--- ■■>ti■--
undulator
)
resonator mirror
0…
- p. 64 …The superconducting accelerator gives good
efficiency and gradient while recirculation of the electron beam recovers beam…
- p. 65 UNCLASSIFIED/ /F&~ 8FFHiil.«1k 1!181! &••kY
- K"' 1.5.t
• Electron Beam:
- Photocathode injector creates…
- p. 66 …HIGH ENERGY LASER BEAM CONTROL
··costs could be reduced to as low as $20 per kg…
- p. 67 …The typical HEL beam control system includes:++ 1) a gimbaled
beam director, 2) tracking and pointing…
- p. 68 UNCLASSIFIED//F&II. &FFiii,111!! l!llili &HI!¥
A novel new HEL beam control architecture being…
- p. 69 …HEL Beam Pointer/Tracker (courtesy of the Directed Energy Professional
Society).
In summary, this new architecture…
- p. 70 …The BILL is a solid-state, kilowatt-class laser
that measures atmospheric conditions, allowing the beam…
- p. 71 …All of these HEL beam control innovations can be quickly adapted to laser propulsion
applications with…
- p. 72 …The entire Lightcraft launch
system is comprised of a ground, sea, or airborne laser beam generator…
- p. 73 …New beam
control devices and high-power optical train combinations have a resulting beam line
that…
- p. 75 …N. (1983), "Advanced Beamed-Energy and Field Propulsion Concepts,"
BDM/W-83-225-TR, BDM Corp…
- p. 76 …N. (2001), "World Record Flights of Beam-Riding Rocket Lightcraft:
Demonstration of 'Disruptive' Propulsion Technology," AIAA…
- p. 77 …of the 6 th Int'! Symposium on Beamed Energy
Propulsion, edited by C. R. Phipps, AIP…
UNCLASSIFIED/ il"9" 91"l"!e!lltt tl!IL 9HL I
Laser Lightcraft Nanosatellites
Summary
Miniaturized satellites are spacecraft of unusually low mass and small size, usually
under 500 kg in total mass. The term "minisatellite" refers to a spacecraft with a wet
mass (including onboard propellant) of 100 kg to 500 kg. Microsatellite or "microsat" is
a spacecraft with a wet mass of 10 kg to 100 kg. Nanosatellite or "nanosat" is a
spacecraft with a wet mass below 10 kg. Picosatellite or "picosat" is a spacecraft with a
wet mass of 0.1 kg to 1.0 kg. Picosats are also called sub-nanosats.
The primary reason for miniaturizing satellites is to reduce cost. Heavier satellites
require larger launch vehicles of greater cost while smaller, lighter satellites require
smaller and cheaper launch vehicles and can sometimes be launched in multiples or
"piggyback" using excess capacity on larger launch vehicles. Miniaturized satellites
allow for cheaper designs as well as ease of mass production. However, few satellites
of any size other than communications constellations, where dozens of satellites are
used to cover the globe, have been mass produced in practice.
Besides the cost issue, the main rationale for the use of miniaturized satellites is the
opportunity to enable missions that a larger satellite cannot accomplish, such as:
• Constellations for low data rate communications.
• Using formations to gather data from multiple points.
• In-orbit inspection of larger satellites.
Many of these missions require numerous small spacecraft in a constellation or
"swarm." These include orbital communications networks and swarms of small
satellites to conduct remote sensing, and to provide unique perspectives on
astronomical bodies of interest. For instance, 100 or more nanosats could be deployed
from a mother ship to their final destination in space for deployment.
Provisions for orbital maneuvers as well as attitude control, multiple sensors, and
instruments, and full autonomy will yield a highly capable miniaturized satellite. All
onboard electronics will survive a total radiation dose rate of several hundred kilorads
over a several year mission lifetime (at least 100 kilorads over two years). Nanosats
developed for in-situ measurements will be spin-stabilized, and carry a complement of
particles and fields instruments. Nanosats developed for remote sensing measurements
(MASINT) or surveillance and eavesdropping (SIGINT) will be three-axis stabilized, and
carry a complement of imaging and radio wave instruments. Autonomy both on board
the nanosats and at the ground stations will minimize the mission operational costs for
tracking and managing a constellation.
To reduce overall mission cost, advanced technology components and a novel laser
propulsion system will be used to make nanosats and their onboard instruments
compact, lightweight, low power, low cost, and able to survive their radiation
environment over a several year lifetime. Each nanosat will be manufactured and
tested for a recurring cost not to exceed $500k. By producing a large quantity of
nanosats for a given mission, the per-unit cost will be reduced to a small fraction of
UNCLASSIFIED//F8A 8FFIQIOP !PSS ODIi Y
1