China’s Antiship Ballistic Missile—Developments and Missing Links

That China is interested in an antiship ballistic missile seems a logical and natural outgrowth of its history of robust missile development. At what stage is its development? How near to operational readiness are its key components and technologies? What would be its implications for the U.S. Navy and the naval strategic balance between the United States and China

On Small Satellites for Oceanography: A Survey

The recent explosive growth of small satellite operations driven primarily from an academic or pedagogical need, has demonstrated the viability of commercial-off-the-shelf technologies in space. They have also leveraged and shown the need for development of compatible sensors primarily aimed for Earth observation tasks including monitoring terrestrial domains, communications and engineering tests. However, one domain that these platforms have not yet made substantial inroads into, is in the ocean sciences. Remote sensing has long been within the repertoire of tools for oceanographers to study dynamic large scale physical phenomena, such as gyres and fronts, bio-geochemical process transport, primary productivity and process studies in the coastal ocean. We argue that the time has come for micro and nano satellites (with mass smaller than 100 kg and 2 to 3 year development times) designed, built, tested and flown by academic departments, for coordinated observations with robotic assets in situ. We do so primarily by surveying SmallSat missions oriented towards ocean observations in the recent past, and in doing so, we update the current knowledge about what is feasible in the rapidly evolving field of platforms and sensors for this domain. We conclude by proposing a set of candidate ocean observing missions with an emphasis on radar-based observations, with a focus on Synthetic Aperture Radar.Comment: 63 pages, 4 figures, 8 table

Space Security 2008

Provides data and analysis on space activities in 2007 and their cumulative impact on security issues, including space laws, policies, and doctrines; civil space programs and global utilities; commercial uses; and environmental and military issues

Europe's Space capabilities for the benefit of the Arctic

In recent years, the Arctic region has acquired an increasing environmental, social, economic and strategic importance. The Arctic’s fragile environment is both a direct and key indicator of the climate change and requires specific mitigation and adaptation actions. The EU has a clear strategic interest in playing a key role and is actively responding to the impacts of climate change safeguarding the Arctic’s fragile ecosystem, ensuring a sustainable development, particularly in the European part of the Arctic. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has recently completed a study aimed at identifying the capabilities and relevant synergies across the four domains of the EU Space Programme: earth observation, satellite navigation, satellite communications, and space situational awareness (SSA). These synergies are expected to be key enablers of new services that will have a high societal impact in the region, which could be developed in a more cost-efficient and rapid manner. Similarly, synergies will also help exploit to its full extent operational services that are already deployed in the Arctic (e.g., the Copernicus emergency service or the Galileo Search and rescue service could greatly benefit from improved satellite communications connectivity in the region).JRC.E.2-Technology Innovation in Securit

Experimental Demonstration of an Algorithm to Detect the Presence of a Parasitic Satellite

Published reports of microsatellite weapons testing have led to a concern that some of these parasitic satellites could be deployed against US satellites to rendezvous dock and then disrupt, degrade disable or destroy the system. An effective detection method is essential. Various sensing solutions were investigated including visual, impact, and dynamic techniques. Dynamic detection, the most effective solution, was further explored. A detection algorithm was constructed and validated on the Air Force Institute of Technology\u27s ground-based satellite simulator, SIMSAT. Results indicate that microsat microsatellites rigidly connected to a satellite can be detected with a series of small identical maneuvers utilizing data available today. All algorithm variations readily detected parasite-induced moment of inertia changes of 3-23%. The most accurate detection scheme. The most accurate detection scheme estimated the moment of inertia to 0.67%. The results look promising for sensing potential microsatellite threats to US systems. The detection scheme presented could easily be integrated into a complete space situational awareness system

Study and design of a Business Model that explore the complementarity of VLEO platforms for Vessel Tracking

Throughout this study, the application of satellites in a Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) is analyzed to complement the already existing technologies used for vessels tracking. This study is part of the DISCOVERER project, which focuses on the research and development of VLEO technologies to apply them in Earth Observation (EO). Within the team, the UPC focuses on market analysis and the study of business opportunities for VLEO technologies. A value proposition is developed following the Canvas model, this being the strategy used to offer a service to a specific client. For the development of the value proposition, the study focuses on optimizing vessels tracking for maritime transport companies. A market study is carried out previously, to analyse how could the value proposition fit in it. The analysis determines that the optimal methodology and technologies to complement the platforms currently used for vessels tracking with an AIS system (Automatic Identification System) installed, is through Data Integration. This method refers to the combination of the data obtained by different platforms (satellites with different technologies and in different orbits complementing both, aerial and terrestrial platforms) once received in the ground station. For the tracking of those ships exempt from carrying an AIS transponder or those that do not want to be tracked, the optimal tracking method would be the combination of data between different platforms before being received on the ground station (System Integration)

The Social Structure of the Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius)

The maintenance of genetic variation is a general conservation concern for endangered species, such as the British hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius). The structuring of genetic variation at multiple hierarchical levels, from individual through to the total population, can provide insights into within-population processes, such as inbreeding and social behaviour, and help understand the causes of population partitioning, both current and historical. Investigating the processes that shape and alter levels of genetic variation within hazel dormouse populations will highlight any factors that may influence their continued persistence and inform on appropriate management strategies. The current thesis aimed to address whether a) microbial-mediated odour could be a mechanism for kin discrimination, inbreeding avoidance and social cooperation; b) the hazel dormouse displays social structuring and, as a result, evidence for inbreeding avoidance; c) there is within and among population structuring, resulting from identified physical features that restrict gene flow and d) current patterns of genetic variation inform us about historic dispersal. Captive bred individuals of known pedigree were used to assess the relationship between bacterial community composition and relatedness. Microsatellite markers were used to generate relatedness estimates and analyse levels of genetic variation at the individual, social group and sub-population levels on samples obtained from Sussex and the Isle of Wight. Mitochondrial markers were used to infer patterns of genetic variation at the total population level, including samples obtained from all over the species range. F-statistics were then used to infer any deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium that could imply for example inbreeding or gene flow. The main findings of the thesis are that 1) microbial composition correlates with genetic relatedness in the hazel dormouse, indicating that microbial-mediated odour could be a mechanism for kin discrimination; 2) inbreeding levels are not significantly high, even though both male and female close relatives are in close proximity, with neither sex exclusively practising natal philopatry or dispersal; 3) no identified habitat features appeared to influence gene flow and levels of genetic variation did not differ between sites, regardless of the habitat features; 4) on the basis of mtDNA, the British dormouse population is likely to have been founded by a relatively recent colonisation event, rather than be a remnant of a more ancient indigenous species. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of how social and dispersal mechanisms determine a population’s composition and hence provide some indicators of how the species has evolved. It is intended that knowledge of the species’ social structure and, in particular, details of their inbreeding avoidance behaviour and tolerance of close relatives, will help optimise population survival in future reintroduction programs

A New Orbiting Deployable System for Small Satellite Observations for Ecology and Earth Observation

In this paper, we present several study cases focused on marine, oceanographic, and atmospheric environments, which would greatly benefit from the use of a deployable system for small satellite observations. As opposed to the large standard ones, small satellites have become an effective and affordable alternative access to space, owing to their lower costs, innovative design and technology, and higher revisiting times, when launched in a constellation configuration. One of the biggest challenges is created by the small satellite instrumentation working in the visible (VIS), infrared (IR), and microwave (MW) spectral ranges, for which the resolution of the acquired data depends on the physical dimension of the telescope and the antenna collecting the signal. In this respect, a deployable payload, fitting the limited size and mass imposed by the small satellite architecture, once unfolded in space, can reach performances similar to those of larger satellites. In this study, we show how ecology and Earth Observations can benefit from data acquired by small satellites, and how they can be further improved thanks to deployable payloads. We focus on DORA—Deployable Optics for Remote sensing Applications—in the VIS to TIR spectral range, and on a planned application in the MW spectral range, and we carry out a radiometric analysis to verify its performances for Earth Observation studies