LeoLabs wins AFWERX contract to develop next-generation radars

SAN FRANCISCO – LeoLabs announced plans June 13 to build a new type of radar under a $1.245 million AFWERX contract.

The S-band 2-D Direct Radiating Array will be particularly adept at tracking rocket launches and spacecraft into very low Earth orbit (VLEO), said Dan Ceperley, LeoLabs founder and chief operating officer. SpaceNews.

LeoLabs has created a global network of radars to track spacecraft and debris in low Earth orbit. The network includes S-band radars shaped like snow halfpipes and flat UHF radars in Texas and Alaska.

The LeoLabs direct radiation link is being developed under the AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research contract is flat and square. And while LeoLab’s older S-band radars include several hundred antennas, the new direct-beam array will have “hundreds to 1,000 antennas,” Ceperley said.

It works in 2025

Before winning the AFWERX contract, LeoLabs was investing its own money in direct radiant arrays.

“It’s great to have SBIR support because it helps us take the technology to TRL 9,” Ceperley said. “It also gets us engaged with the end users in the Space Force so they can start thinking about how it applies to their missions.”

Technology Readiness Level, TRL, 9 defines systems proven through mission operations.

LeoLabs has not announced the location for its first direct radiation array, which is scheduled to begin service in mid-2025.

Catalog of Radars

Additional strings of direct radiation are likely to follow.

“This goes into our catalog of radar types,” Ceperley said. “Now we have many types of radars that we can deploy. We expect this new radar technology to be a major part of the radar network going forward.”

LeoLabs Direct Beam is a modular radar.

“We can make it small and build a lot more radar sites,” Ceperley said. “To track activity in VLEO and missiles coming from all these different places, you want a whole array of radars.”

By adding modules, LeoLabs can also create a more powerful direct beam array to track activity in mid-Earth orbit, or geosynchronous, Ceperley added.

Moving around

Activity is increasing in VLEO. But it is difficult to track the spacecraft operating there. Unlike low-Earth orbit satellites, which often remain in stable orbits, VLEO satellites move due to varying degrees of traction and frequent use of onboard thrusters.

“You want to check every hour or even less than an hour if you can to keep track of them,” Ceperley said.

Direct radiation is existing ground-based military radars.

LeoLabs’ contribution was to “figure out how to bring in commercial technology” to achieve commercial timelines and price points, Ceperley said.

Direct-beam arrays can be built within a month, Ceperley said. “You can have containers ready to ship these very quickly,” he added.

LeoLabs CEO Tony Frazier said in a statement: “As the number of adversary satellites in space increases dramatically each year, we are committed to supporting the US Department of Defense’s efforts to improve launch tracking non-cooperative, smaller orbital debris and objects. in” VEO.

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