Systems & Controls Issues for Future Military Space Applications

Dr. R. Scott Erwin

Space Vehicles Directorate

Air Force Research Laboratory

Abstract: The United States relies on space-based assets for a large variety of military applications, from the ability for precise navigation and precision strike provided by the Global Positioning System constellation of satellites to high-bandwidth secure communications capability to link our national and theatre commanders to the forces in the field that is provided by military communications satellites.  But space, once the domain of only a select few countries with sufficient political and financial unity to overcome the natural barriers that govern it, is increasingly becoming available to more and more nations as more countries either develop or purchase the ability to enter space or the products produced by the assets of other space-faring nations.  

This change has resulted in a reexamination by the United States of the military use in space, with the result that new missions and capabilities are under consideration for development.  These areas include the development of a responsive space capability for gap filling and augmentation missions and the development of a space situational awareness capability that will provide the US military with true understanding of what craft move through and in space and their capabilities.

This talk will focus on potential roles and applications that systems and controls as a technical discipline might address in this evolving development effort, and will discuss several areas that the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate has initiated along these lines. The talk will focus on several projects and directions rather than an in-depth technical discussion on any one area of research in order to provide perspective on the subject.

Bio: R. Scott Erwin received a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1991, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1993 and 1997, respectively. He has been an employee of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate located at Kirtland AFB, NM, from 1997 to the present. He is currently the Technical Area Lead for Command, Control, and Communications (C3) Research at the Space Vehicles Directorate, where his responsibilities include the fiscal management, planning, and technical direction of research in these areas. Dr. Erwin also has a simultaneous appointment as the Academic Affairs Coordinator for the Space Vehicles Directorate, serving as the Laboratory Center Representative for the NRC Research Fellows Program, the ASEE Summer Faculty Fellows Program, and the AFRL/VS Space Scholars Program, as well as performing general liaison functions with academia.  Dr. Erwin is a Senior Member of both the IEEE and the AIAA, and he has served as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology and the IEEE Control Systems Society Conference Editorial Board. Dr. Erwin was selected as the recipient of the 2001 United States Air Force Science and Engineering Award for Exploratory and Advanced Technology Development and was the winner of the IEEE Albuquerque Section's Junior Engineer of the Year Award in 2004.  He is a member of external advisory boards for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the University of New Mexico and the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department of the University of Texas at Austin. He has authored or co-authored over 50 publications including 9 refereed journal papers in the areas of spacecraft dynamics and controls.

Friday, January 13, 2006

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

1500 EECS