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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UNCLASSIFIED//rOR: orrlCIAL USE 014Lf
and are controlled by a single FSM which is also the primary mirror and DM. This
eliminates the traditional split between local and target loop stabilization,
combining both into a single controller. This is accomplished so that the high
power path is minimized to its fundamental limit of six mirrors, which are
necessary to get the beam from the HEL module through the coude path and out
through the exit aperture of the telescope.
• Eliminating the BILL (see Figure 36): The BILL is a solid-state, kilowatt-class laser
that measures atmospheric conditions, allowing the beam and fire control
systems to compensate for atmospheric turbulence that the HEL beam would
encounter in its path to a target. The beam from the BILL bounces off the target
and returns to the HEL source, where optical and software equipment measures
the amount of distortion in the atmosphere between the HEL source and the
target. The HEL adaptive optics system compensates for the distortion using a
deformable mirror. Thus, elim inating the BILL was a very im porta nt innovation
t owards decreasing t he number of high-power components requ ired in t he coude
pat h.
Basic Shared Aperture Beam
Control System
Sources of Noise & Jitter
• Platform vibration
•Target Scintlllation
• Wind and platform induced
vibration on director
• Atmospheric Turbulence
Gimbals • Excess Mechanical TolerancesC41 System
Control • l atencies & Inadequate
bandwidth in tracker loop
~ Overcomes many of the alignment issues with a dual aperturE;system I
Figure 35. Basic Shared Aperture Beam Control System (TILL = Track Illuminator Laser; C4I
= Command, Control, Computing, Communication & Intelligence equipment} (courtesy of
the Directed Energy Professional Society}.
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