ATK has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Defense Weather Systems Directorate to execute a study of Network-Centric Small Satellites as an element of SMC's Weather Satellite Follow-On Activities.

This study will provide comprehensive insight into the capabilities and characteristics of a 21st century weather data service that can systematically augment the legacy Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). The study will focus on two aspects of such a mission system: 1) net-centric architectures, and; 2) small, agile, cost-effective heritage spacecraft buses that can be used to support a variety of future weather payloads.

Net-centric architectures can enable an orderly transition from historically stove-piped systems to a true 21^st century system that provides for rapid processing and dissemination of key weather data directly to the warfighter. Systems engineering trade studies will define a distributed ground system that utilizes commercial infrastructure to the greatest extent possible to enable cost-effective, robust, faster data distribution for weather and other missions.

Small and agile spacecraft concepts based on the heritage ATK A200 spacecraft bus (previously used for both the TacSat-3 and ORS-1 spacecraft) will be developed to demonstrate ATK's ability to host candidate Weather Satellite Follow-on (WSF) instruments and to provide a path to affordable and reliable spacecraft.  ATK has, through the success of NASA's EO-1 and THEMIS, and the military's TacSat-3 and ORS-1 programs, proven itself as an industry leader in the design, fabrication, integration, and test of innovative and cost-effective spacecraft systems.

"ATK is delighted to have this opportunity to play a key role with Space and Missile Systems Center in an early exploration of disaggregated, affordable, resilient architectures," said Tom Wilson , ATK Space Systems vice president and general manager. "We support the U.S. Air Force Space Command and SMC Space Modernization Initiative that could change the future of military space systems."