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Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Atlas V rocket to launch SBIRS GEO-5 missile warning satellite

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Bipartisianship Missile Defense

Comments: 0

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the SBIRS Geo-5 missile detection satellite for the U.S. Space Force stands atop Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for a May 17, 2021 launch. (Image credit: United Launch Alliance)

The United Launch Alliance will launch an Atlas V rocket carrying a new missile warning satellite for the U.S. Space Force today (May 17) and you can watch it live here. Liftoff is at 1:42 p.m. EDT (1742 GMT).

The Atlas V will launch the Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit 5 satellite (SBIRS GEO Flight 5) into orbit from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. ULA's launch webcast will begin about 20 minutes before liftoff. You can also watch directly from ULA on YouTube here and get live launch updates here.

From ULA:
Mission

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 421 rocket will launch the Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO) Flight 5 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC). Liftoff will occur from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Following liftoff, the Atlas V rocket will deliver the fifth SBIRS satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit. The mission also includes two multimanifest satellite vehicles.

SBIRS GEO-5 consists of a network of GEO satellites and HEO payloads that provide persistent, infrared surveillance – as well as a sophisticated ground control system that manages that data – to support missile warning, missile defense, battlespace awareness and technical intelligence. Equipped with scanning and staring infrared sensors, the SBIRS spacecraft continue to serve as the tip of the spear for global missile warning as ballistic missile threats proliferate around the world.

SBIRS GEO-5, the fifth SBIRS spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin, but the first military space satellite built on the company’s modernized LM 2100 Combat Bus – an enhanced space vehicle that provides even greater resiliency and cyber-hardening against growing threats, as well as improved spacecraft power, propulsion and electronics.

SMC’s Multi Manifest Office, in partnership with the United States Air Force Academy, will be flying the EZ-3 and -4 flight systems on the SBIRS GEO-5 mission. This multi-manifest mission will support the deployment of two 12U Multi-Manifest Satellite Vehicles, TDO-3 and -4, prior to the deployment of the SBIRS GEO-5 satellite. A multi-manifest mission set allows more capability to be placed on orbit, ultimately providing more critical capabilities to the warfighter.

Launch Vehicle

Payload Fairing (PLF)

The SBIRS satellite is encapsulated in the 13.7-ft (4-m) diameter extra extended payload fairing (XEPF). The XEPF is a bisector (twopiece shell) fairing consisting of aluminum skin/ stringer construction with vertical split-line longerons. The vehicle’s height with the XEPF is approximately 194 ft (59.1 m).

Centaur

The Centaur second stage is 10 ft (3 m) in diameter and 41.5 ft (12.6 m) long. Its propellant tanks are constructed of pressure-stabilized, corrosion resistant stainless steel. Centaur is a liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen- (cryogenic-) fueled vehicle. It uses a single RL10C-1-1 engine producing 23,825 lb (106 kilo-Newtons) of thrust. The cryogenic tanks are insulated with a combination of helium-purged insulation blankets, radiation shields, and spray-on foam insulation (SOFI). The Centaur forward adapter (CFA) provides the structural mountings for the fault-tolerant avionics system and the structural and electronic interfaces with the spacecraft.

Booster

The Atlas V booster is 12.5 ft (3.81 m) in diameter and 106.5 ft (32.5 m) long. The booster’s tanks are structurally stable and constructed of isogrid aluminum barrels, spun-formed aluminum domes and intertank skirts. Atlas booster propulsion is provided by the RD-180 engine system (a single engine with two thrust chambers). The RD-180 burns RP-1 (Rocket Propellant-1 or highly purified kerosene) and liquid oxygen, and delivers 860,200 lb (3.83 mega-Newtons) of thrust at sea level. Two solid rocket boosters (SRBs) generate the additional power required at liftoff, each providing 348,500 lb (158,076 kg) of thrust. The Atlas V booster is controlled by the Centaur avionics system which provides guidance, flight control and vehicle sequencing functions during the booster and Centaur phases of flight.

Source: https://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html

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