![]() Instead of using molecular hydrogen, deuterium is used to react with atomic fluoride. The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization has already demonstrated a hydrogen fluoride laser with megawatt power in a simulated space environment.Īnother laser, similar to the hydrogen fluoride system, is the deuterium fluoride laser system. At that wavelength, the hydrogen fluoride laser beam would be soaked up by the Earth's atmosphere, meaning that it is most likely to be used in space-to-space combat as part of the Space-Based Laser program. This reaction creates a wavelength between 2.7 and 2.9 microns. Atomic fluorine reacts with molecular hydrogen to produce excited hydrogen fluoride molecules. Air Force compared the workings of the hydrogen fluoride laser system to the way a rocket engine works. In a 1998 report titled Laser Weapons in Space: A Critical Assessment (PDF file), Lt. While a space-based laser system is still about 20 years from being realized, there are three lasers being considered for it, including hydrogen fluoride (HF), deuterium fluoride (DF) and chemical oxygen iodine (COIL). All three are a type of chemical laser that involves the mixing of chemicals inside the weapon to create a laser beam. The mission will include missile warning satellites that are part of SDA’s Tranche 0 Tracking Layer and communication satellites supporting the agency’s Tranche 0 Transport Layer.There are at least three laser systems being developed for either space-based or ground-based weapons. SDA had expected to launch its first batch, or “tranche,” of satellites this month but supply chain delays linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and a 2020 bid protest have pushed that timeline to December. “I don’t anticipate any major change there, but that’s the first time when you’ll see that at that point, we will get approvals through the Space Force versus through ” Tournear said. Those meetings are held every six months and will continue at that cadence, he said. The agency’s first time seeking Calvelli’s sign-off on its acquisition plans will come in March, Tournear noted, when SDA’s Warfighter Integration Council meets to discuss what baseline capabilities it wants from its next batch of satellites. Personnel will move to a new office at the Pentagon and their paychecks will now come from the Space Force, he said, but the chain of command within the organization will stay the same and he doesn’t expect any personnel changes. “SDA’s proliferated LEO constellation, as an integral part of the Space Force’s force design, brings resiliency, accelerated capability delivery through spiral development and rapid technology refresh.”Īny differences in SDA’s near-term operations will be minimal, Tournear said. “SDA will be key to rapidly delivering space capability to our warfighters,” Calvelli said in an Oct. The service’s posture marks a significant shift from three years ago, when Air Force leaders publicly fought the organization’s establishment, criticizing its mission as redundant. Jay Raymond for personnel and other issues.Ĭalvelli and other service officials have embraced SDA’s acquisition plan to build and launch large constellations of satellites and refresh that technology every two years, a concept called spiral development. The agency will report to Chief of Space Operations Gen. So, as of this weekend, SDA Director Derek Tournear now reports directly to the service’s acquisition executive, Frank Calvelli, for capability development and procurement matters. ![]() Congress mandated in the Fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that SDA become part of the Space Force in fiscal 2023 in an effort to align space acquisition under the Space Force. ![]() The agency has, until now, been under the purview of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
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