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Defense Intelligence Reference Document Laser Lightcraft Nanosatellites

Defense Intelligence Agency · 77 pages · text from the file's own layer

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.

  • p. 8 …commercialized by companies such as MOOG and Lockheed-Martin Space Systems. By incorporating micro-electromechanical systems…
  • p. 53 …the tracking system will be built by Lockheed-Martin. A bulk solid-state laser is based…
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Figure 20. DARPA's High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (courtesy of P.
Saunders, AFRL/RDS, Kirtland AFB, NM).
Unlike chemical and gas dynamic laser devices, bulk solid-state lasers possess the
following unique characteristics, which make them highly competitive with any chemical
or gas dynamic laser systems [30]:
• Reliability.
• High level of safety.
• User-friendly.
• Maintenance-free.
• Low-cost performance, high-volume production.
• Compact size.
• Wide range of wavelength selection and wavelength tunability.
• Variety of power oscillator or master oscillator-power amplifier (MOPA) designs.
• Scalability of beam output power, variety of beam combining techniques: scalable
to 1 MW beam power within 2 years.
Typical solid-state lasers have the following technical features [30]:
• Gain medium:
50
Host crystal [e.g., Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (YAG)], glass or ceramic
(amorphous materials).
- Impurity lasing ions deposited (or doped) in host [e.g., Neodymium (Nd 3+) or
Ytterbium (Yb 3+)].
Range of beam wavelengths().) produced: 0.7 μm to> 2 μm.
• Optically pumped with flash lamps or diode lasers.
• Capable of high peak power pulses.
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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.