US Army mulls nanosatellites for soldiers
A US Army project is looking into the use of nanosatellites for soldier communications, it announced on 20 July.
The army's Space and Missile Defense Command's (SMDC) Nanosatellite Program (SNaP) will be a small satellite communications constellation for communicating across large distances using current ultra-high frequency tactical radios.
The SMDC-ONE nanosatellite was built by the army as a technology demonstration to show that nanosatellites in a low-Earth orbit could be utilised for data exfiltration and beyond-line-of-sight communications. Three next-generation SNaP satellites are set to launch in 2015 with more to potentially follow.
The SNaP satellite is a 5kg mass cube satellite that provides data and over-the-horizon communications capabilities. Its data rate is five times greater than that of the SMDC-ONE, and it has propulsion systems and deployable solar arrays.
Thomas Webber, director, SMDC technical center space and strategic systems directorate, said: 'SNaP is a technology demonstration with the goal of showing the military utility nanosatellites can provide to the disadvantaged user.
'The primary uses are beyond line of sight communications and data exfiltration. SNaP is a natural fit for the command since we are the army proponent for space and also the SATCOM provider.'
Jeff Stewart, technical manager, space division, SMDC, added: 'SNaP will provide beyond-line-of-sight communications and data in disadvantaged environments to the warfighter and provide communication ability for users, who might not otherwise have communications, due to user location or overhead cover.'
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