The ARTEMIS (Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer) program called for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems to design and build the sensor within 15 months as part of a rapid development experiment funded by a $15 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory.

The typical development cycle of such a program would be four to five years, according to Brian Arnold, vice president for Raytheon's Space Systems business.

"The intent of the program is to help demonstrate the feasibility of the 'responsive-space' concept," Arnold said. "Small, relatively inexpensive satellites would be launched on demand to meet real-time battlefield needs."

In the responsive space approach, satellites and their cargo, such as an ARTEMIS payload, would be kept in a holding facility where systems could be assembled and transported rapidly to a convenient launch site.

Employing commercial-off-the-shelf components and industry standard interfaces, ARTEMIS serves as a prototype for systems that can support rapid launch requirements in an easy-to-manufacture, low-cost design.

"Conceivably, a system could be mounted on a satellite, launched, and in orbit 200 miles above the earth within three to seven days of a request by a field commander, providing data in a user-friendly format while greatly reducing critical response times and enhancing battle assessment capabilities" Arnold said.

Raytheon is working on concept development for a follow-on hyper-spectral imaging payload with an even wider coverage area for the Naval Research Laboratory. The ARTEMIS sensor was developed for the Department of Defense's Tactical Satellite program.

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