Marine ASV Range Surveillance System, Phase I

United States spaceports carry out the impressive task of launching and recovering spacecrafts and payloads which represent extremely unique and expensive assets. The successful deployment, recovery, and operation of these assets are essential to our scientific discovery, economic prosperity, and national security. Range surveillance is a significant factor in enabling safe, reliable, and cost effective operations. Our ranges encompass large ocean regions that are not under the exclusive control of the spaceport. As such, these areas must be cleared in preparation for launch and reentry operations to ensure overall safety to the public as well as the space transportation system itself. Emergent Space Technologies, Inc. (Emergent) proposes to research a integrated marine autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) range surveillance (MARS) system to enhance spaceport situational awareness. The surveillance payload includes an array of optical, infrared, and RF sensors and onboard software to facilitate measurement infusion and analysis. The surveillance payload provides state estimates including position, velocity, and heading for marine assets. State measurements are relayed to the range control personnel to aid in operational decision making. The MARS system is intended to increase range availability and safety while decreasing operational costs.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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