Air Force taps Applied Technology Associates and Teledyne Brown to produce space weather sensors

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Air Power awarded contracts to Utilized Expertise Associates and Teledyne Brown Engineering to fabricate satellite tv for pc devices to detect Energetic Charged Particles (ECPs).

The Air Power awarded a $5 million contract to Utilized Expertise Associates of Paso Robles, California, to assemble a sensor developed by the Air Power Analysis Laboratory. The sensor, Compact Environmental Anomaly Sensor three, consists of two particle telescopes to “present a complete measure of the house atmosphere,” Capt. Kaitlin Toner, Air Power Area and Missile Programs Command spokeswoman, mentioned in an emailed response to SpaceNews questions.

The Air Power additionally awarded a $1.eight million contract to Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville, Alabama, to assemble ECP-Lite, a sensor developed by the Aerospace Corp. “ECP-Lite is a low dimension, weight and energy sensor that may present a targeted subset of house environmental knowledge,” Toner mentioned.

The contracts, introduced in January on the Area Enterprise Consortium web site, are a part of the Air Power’s effort to enhance house climate monitoring. Air Power Secretary Deborah Lee James issued a memo in 2015 calling for ECP sensors on all new Air Power satellites.

The Area Enterprise Consortium solicitation for ECP sensor bids mentioned that after completion of the prototype contracts, the Area and Missile Programs Middle “intends to award a follow-on manufacturing contract.”

“We’re incorporating ECP sensors the place it is sensible to offer higher anomaly attribution,” mentioned Maj. Janelle Jenniges, Air Power Area Climate Integration chief, mentioned on the American Meteorological Society convention in Boston in January. “There are two charged particle sensors. We’ll consider the variations between them.”

The sensors constructed by Utilized Expertise Associates and Teledyne Brown Engineering are scheduled to be launched on totally different spacecraft in late 2020 and early 2021, Toner mentioned. “Testing will happen inside 12 months of launch,” she added.