BRANDYWINE PHOTONICS LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF171-073
BRANDYWINE PHOTONICS LLC — SBIR Phase I award from Department of Defense.
Phase I SBIR feasibility signal
- Phase I awards fund proof-of-concept work. For capture teams, they mark early interest from Department of Defense in a technical approach.
- Watch for Phase II follow-ons from the same firm/topic family — that conversion path is where budgets and transition pressure rise.
- Obligated amount $149,956. Cross-check similar awards in the same agency and technology tags for going-rate context.
- Topic code AF171-073 links this award to a solicitation family — search the same topic stem for incumbents and recompete timing.
- Amount
- $149,956
- Agency
- Department of Defense · Air Force
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- Topic
- AF171-073
- Solicitation
- 2017.1
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- PA
- Period
- 2017-08-02 → 2018-05-02
Description
The upcoming gap in satellite weather data may be a significant crisis in the early 2020s, with the cancellation of the NPOESS satellite program, and the loss of the DMSP-19 Satellite. Weather sources resources are stretched thin, which may make the US reliant on foreign weather data. We propose a new Cubesat satellite called Gemini, which would be a pathfinder satellite for an Operational Responsive Meteorology Constellation called MetNet. The Gemini-A instrument proposed here is a multi-spectral imager which uses 32 MODIS bands for fast and simple theater weather imaging, all within a 1.5U CalPoly CubeSat standard. This is made possible through the innovative use of newer technologies, such as the High Operating Temperature MWIR FPA at 120K and a newly available Low-Light-Level CMOS Image Sensor. The most significant challenges will be the system, thermal, and electrical design involving integrating four cameras into a 1.5U form factor. Gemini-B would be a separate 3U Microwave Sounder, such as the Mirata CubeSat built by MIT-Lincoln Labs, and would be part of a later effort. As with AURA and JPSS, the combination of IR and Microwave Sounder would work synergistically to provide a total solution for Cloud Characterization.