USSF announces University Consortium Research Opportunity – “xGEO Operations and SDA”

Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs — In partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory and Universities Space Research Association, the United States Space Force announced the establishment of a new University Consortium Research Opportunity addressing space science and technology challenges today.

The research focus areas for this UCRO will include Beyond Geostationary Earth Orbit (xGEO) Operations and Space Domain Awareness (SDA); and will facilitate applied research to develop transformational space domain technology. This ground-breaking initiative advances capabilities that can be transitioned and integrated into current and future USSF space systems.

The xGEO Operations and SDA team will be comprised of at least three research institutions, including a lead university. The teams of universities selected are encouraged to collaborate and partner with other universities, AFRL, DARPA and industry to address space research, development, and demonstration needs.

The lead research institution will also be able to manage the research of any xGEO Operations and SDA subtopics. Additionally, the teams will also support future technology vectors and horizon scanning on emerging and forward-leaning technologies through a systematic assessment of potential future threats and technology surprises.

The xGEO Operations and SDA UCRO will focus on technologies needed to ensure continued and enhanced capability across all space areas (including moons and planets) for the U.S. military and civil operation. While many of these technologies are applicable to other orbital regimes or even other domains, this opportunity will focus on specifically addressing challenges related to space object tracking and beyond geostationary orbit operations.

A notice of intent regarding the UCRO opportunity and anticipated request for proposal is accessible via https://afrlscholars.usra.edu/urep.