Air Force Office of Scientific Research Funds Academy Satellite Program

  • Published
  • AFOSR Public Affairs
ARLINGTON, Va --  The Air Force Office of Scientific Research is currently funding a research program at the U.S. Air Force Academy which involves cadets designing, building and launching satellites.

The most recent satellite cadets created is FalconSat-3, launched in March from Cape Canaveral, Florida and currently conducting weather and spacecraft experiments 562 kilometers above the earth.

"The FalconSat program is of particular significance because it is a great example of how we can successfully partner between our organic Air Force academia, research and systems acquisition organizations to provide a product of benefit to the entire Air Force and the Department of Defense," said Colonel Michael C. Hatfield, AFOSR commander and deputy director.

AFOSR began funding the FalconSat program six years ago. According to FalconSat Program Manager Lt. Col. Timothy J. Lawrence, "Without the partial funding provided by AFOSR, and the expertise provided by the U.S. Air Force Academy, the FalconSat-3 program would never have gotten off the ground."

The program is overseen by the Academy's Space Systems Research Center, led by Lt. Col. Lawrence. The Center runs the multi-disciplinary, two-semester astronautical engineering course where cadets put theory into practice.

"The FalconSat program has the purpose of educating cadets in fields related to space. Our motivation is to ensure that the future leaders of the Air Force are acquainted with the excitement and challenges of satellites and space access. In addition to learning the required engineering and physics, they learn to deal with the real-life requirements and regulations that have to be satisfied to build and launch a satellite," said Dr. Kent L. Miller, AFOSR University Nanosatellites Program Manager.

The 120-pound, 18-inch square orbiter blasted off with five scientific experiments aboard which are expected to support a number of Department of Defense research initiatives. The experiments characterize the plasma turbulence in the environment around the satellite, suppress the vibration caused by the stresses of launch and investigate shape and structural stability through the rigors of launch and space.

"The cadets are getting to attack real world problems so they have the opportunity to pull out of the world of theory and learn to solve some real world problems and that will make them better officers, engineers and scientists," said Colonel Marty France, head of the Academy's Department of Astronautical Engineering.

"The Academy's first nanosatellite/microsat was called FalconGold. It was a 15 kg satellite with a GPS signal experiment which launched on an Atlas Centaur rocket in 1997. FalconGold relayed GPS data for 15 days and determined that GPS can be used for orbit determination above the constellation. This was our first satellite project, and it was a joint project between AFA and the University of Colorado at Boulder. The next satellites were the FalconSat-1 which launched in January 2000 and then FalconSat-2 in 2005 which relayed GPS data as well," said John Van Winkle, Air Force Academy Public Affairs Officer.

Post-launch, the cadets have operated FalconSat-3 from the academy's satellite ground station at the AFA. The satellite is expected to be in orbit for at least one year during which time it will provide valuable data to the Academy's Physics Department, Air Force Research Laboratory Technology Directorate labs, and other Department of Defense agencies.