MDA test uses CubeSats for missile defense communication in space

July 12 (UPI) -- CubeSats, such as those launched into orbit on June 30, can play a major role in radio communications to detect enemy attack, which the Pentagon said Monday it is currently testing.

The nanosatellites, weighing less than three pounds, cost about $1.3 million each to build and launch.

Grouped in networks, the nanosatellites are a low-cost method of radio communications in space, and could eventually be part of systems designed to detect and track hypersonic and ballistic missile threats.

A 90-day test of their ability to navigate and communicate conducted by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, known as CubeSat Networked Communications Experiment Block 1, will include satellites launched into low earth orbit on June 30 by Virgin Orbit.

"The missile defense architecture will require communications between interceptors, sensors and command and control systems to quickly identify, track and destroy incoming enemy missiles before they reach their targets," Walt Chai, director of space sensors at the MDA, said in a press release.

"The CubeSats will allow the agency to demonstrate the capabilities quickly and affordably," Walt Chai of MDA said.

A bundle of satellites was part of the June 30 payload fired by a rocket from a modified Boeing 747 over the Pacific Ocean after taking off from Mojave Air and Space Port, near Los Angeles.

A CubeSat uses multiple modules, cube-shaped and each about four inches per side, with commercial, off-the-shelf components. They can communicate with the ground and with each other to identify potential threats.

The test is an element of the MDA's Nanosat Testbed Initiative, which uses small, low cost satellites to take advantage of "emerging small satellite technology, launch capacity, and automated operations for missile defense," an MDA statement said.

"The ability to use CubeSats for low-cost access to space is essential in maturing technologies for future applications in missile defense," Shari Feth, head of the innovation, science and technology directorate at the MDA, said in Monday's Pentagon press release.

"For the NTI efforts, we only need something small to take technology experiments to space in order to test in the relevant environment and gather accurate data. CubeSats are the perfect platform for this," Feth said.