AAWSAP DIRD, Laser Lightcraft Nanosatellites, November 2010

This Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIA-08-1011-001), dated 1 November 2010, was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications program. It covers nanosatellite technologies, laser Lightcraft propulsion, a weapon mission selection study and a multi-megawatt laser study. The author recommends that the Department of Defense, working with NASA, bring laser Lightcraft propulsion research back to the United States and restart the Air Force X-50LR test flight program.

From the source:Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 11/1/10, Las Vegas, Nevada. Released with redactions. This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD examines laser-propelled “Lightcraft” as a possible low-cost method to launch very small satellites into low Earth orbit by using a remote high-energy laser to supply most of the propulsion energy rather than relying entirely on onboard energy sources. The report combines a survey of nanosatellite trends with a review of “Lightcraft” propulsion concepts, vehicle design, beam-control requirements, and mission studies, and argues that the most promising application is the launch of nano- or pico-satellites, especially Earth- and space-observing payloads of a few kilograms or less. It presents the concept as potentially much cheaper than conventional multistage rockets for very small payloads, while also noting significant practical constraints including strict beam-riding geometry, atmospheric losses, demanding pointing and adaptive-optics requirements, and heavy dependence on large ground-, sea-, or air-based laser infrastructure. Overall, the document presents laser “Lightcraft” as a technically plausible launch concept whose attractiveness depends on whether the supporting laser and beam-control system can be made reliable and economical at operational scale.

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Figure 13. Influence of Lightcraft Range and Pointing Ang les on Captured Power C261.
The phys ics and technology of FELs will allow beam power to be sca led up to 1 MW or
higher as long as thermal loading of the beam optics and electron losses in the electron
beam recirculation loop can be mitigated using engineering solutions. Beam combining
of several 1 MW (or higher) FELs can achieve a total combined beam output power of
10 MW (or higher). Other newly emerging high-power laser techno logy that show
promise for achieving megawatt-class beam power include bulk slab solid-state and
high -power fiber lasers; t he former has already achieved over 100 kW of beam power
whi le the latter is getting close to it. Present megawatt-class lasers that are based on
avai lable proven technology include a proposal fo r a 5-beam, 2.5 MW per beam,
electron gun-driven CO2/gas mixture laser which combines five laser beams to ach ieve
10 MW of total beam output power. These systems wi ll be described further in Chapter
4.
LIFE CYCLE OF LIGHTCRAFT SYSTEM
Froning and Davis [26] found that ground-based laser costs comprised the major
portion of a Lightcraft ETO transportation system - with ground-based laser costs
comprising about 80% of the total laser Lightcraft system life-cycle cost (LCC). The
LCC of a laser Lightcraft ETO transportation system was estimated using Li ghtcraft
ve hicle and ground-based laser cost inputs from AFRL/PRSP together with
programmatic cost inputs from another cost database. Table 1 shows the
programmatic assumptions together with t he system acq uisition and operation costs for
the various Lightcraft vehicle and ground-based laser system elements. Laser
acquisition and operation costs were assumed to be shared with another user and all
ope rations costs are reduced to one-half those va lues estimated from historical data.
Launch costs are seen to be extremely low (only $74,141 per flight) with laser-
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