CESIUMASTRO INC — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase I: H9

Description

In order to provide high performance communication links for lunar and deep space missions, while dramatically improving cost and reducing SWaP, new approaches are required. The key enablersnbsp;to deliver this step change, mass manufacturability and software-defined design, serve as cornerstones to Cesiumrsquo;s modular design ecosystem. Leveraging Cesiumrsquo;s existingnbsp;phased array communicationnbsp;hardware and development roadmap, this submission proposes a feasibility study to define the required software development and hardware adaptation to enablenbsp;dual function active phased array communication and radar sensing system from the same payload. Such a system will bring all the advantages of Cesiumrsquo;s modular scalable approach, adding dual use functionality within a very low SWaP, low cost solution.nbsp;By combining communications and radar within one payload, the system provides two functionalities from one-equipment set of size weight and power. Moreover, the system can be scaled to suit a very wide range of mission scenarios based on Cesiumrsquo;s modular building blocks.