Mary-Louise Hoffman
Raytheon Technologies has applied a digital engineering approach to help the U.S. Space Force design a ground system for processing and analyzing military satellite data.
The company said its intelligence and space business developed virtual models using a digital thread to understand small design changes as the team worked on the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution Mission Data Processing Application Framework.
The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon a $197 million contract in January 2020 to build the FORGE prototype system as part of the military’s missile warning architecture modernization initiative.
Karen Casey, an RI&S engineering fellow, said the system works like a smartphone because it will not function without applications and satellite-derived data.
“For example, by fusing data from existing space-based infrared system satellites, weather satellites and imagery satellites, the FORGE framework can quickly develop a picture that would indicate areas of interest, such as a volcanic eruption.” Casey added.
The system was designed primarily to accelerate USSF’s data analysis application development and deployment processes, according to Raytheon.
