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This Defense Intelligence Reference Document from the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated 1 November 2010, was produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It describes nanosatellite technologies and proposes launching nanosats into orbit with laser Lightcraft propulsion. It also covers a weapon mission selection study and multi-megawatt laser options. The author recommends that the Department of Defense and NASA bring Lightcraft R&D back to the United States and restart the X-50LR flight demonstration program.
“The Advance”13 pages
UNCLASSIFIED//F8~ 8FFl&I.«1k WliEii a,.klf Figure 12 shows, for a given laser aperture diameter, adaptive optics, and atmospheric conditions, the decrease in laser power collected by the Lightcraft with increasing range from a 11.2 μm wavelength CO2 laser. The decrease is shown for a vertical laser- pointing angle and for a final laser-pointing angle of 83° (from the vertical) that occurs at maximum laser propulsion range (about 500 km), where the Lightcra~ reaches maximum speed. ~ -"E """~ l.E+06 >. "" ~ =C. i;j l.E+05l------ !-~ I No Adaptive Opllcs·I 11.2 micron Laser W11vt'length Laser Beam Angle from the V crtical 0 j l .E+0,41--------l--------l----=-.J_-----"-------1 0 100 200 300 400 500 Lightcraft Slant Range from Laser (km) Figure 12. Captured Laser Power vs. Increasing Range from 11.2 μm CO 2 Laser [261. Figure 13 shows the significant difference in the laser power collected by the Lightcraft during its laser propulsion phase of flight for the selected laser wavelength of 1.62 μm, and for the 11.2 μm CO2 laser wavelength chosen for a government baseline Lightcraft. This comparison is for a Lightcraft trajectory determined from optimization work during the latter phases of the Froning and Davis study. It was also for the highest radiated power ( 10 MW) and the largest laser aperture (10 m) that was deemed practical for Air Force operations and systems. Unfortunately the demonstrated laser beam power levels for the attractive 1.62 μm wavelength, which suffered the least propagation losses, are relatively modest. This attractive laser wavelength is associated with the wavelength-tunable free-electron laser (FEL), whose maximum beam power is currently in the 20 kW range. Thus, there is the need for a 500-fold increase in FEL beam power to achieve the 10 MW beam power required for (10 kg-class) Lightcra~ ETO propulsion. However, 100 kW beam FEL designs are being proposed by the Navy for prototyping and testing in FY 2011 and 2012. 23 UNCLASSIFIED/ ,'1'81l 81'1'181"'1. lal!ii 8,11,~1
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 77 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.