WEBVTT

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[Music]

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In the past several years traffic in and

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around the Arctic has significantly increased.

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Higher traffic in this region likely

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leads to an increased need for

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search and rescue capabilities.

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This map shows several of the shipping

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routes through the Arctic. In 2008, fifty two

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cargo ships tugboats and tankers

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navigated these treacherous waters.

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That number increased to 144 in 2013.

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By 2025, more than 2,100 vessels are expected to

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complete thousands of transits through the Arctic.

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This region has been monitored by the

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COSPAS SARSAT Satellite System.

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Since 1982, the COSPAS SARSAT system has

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provided worldwide coverage for

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distress beacons. Including the Arctic, this system has aided in more than 41,000

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rescue operations across the world,

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including 8,000 in the United States.

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Countless people owe their lives to this system.

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The COSPAS SARSAT Satellite System

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that monitors the Arctic, is well beyond

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its current lifespan, increasing the

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chances of an outage. NEOSAR, which is the next

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generation of the COSPAS SARSAT Satellite System,

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will not be fully operational until

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the early to mid 2020s time-frame.

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With this need in mind, the Department of Homeland Security
Office of Science and Technology,

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in concert with the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration,

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United States Coast Guard and the

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United States Air Force Space Rapid Capabilities Office,

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have worked together to demonstrate a

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search and rescue capability,
with the Polar Scout Cube SATs.

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Polar Scout is a set of two satellites

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with a payload that can sense emergency beacons

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from boats, airplanes, and other

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distress emitters. Polar Scout plans to

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demonstrate its ability to compliment,

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or gap-fill those satellites monitoring

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the Arctic and other remote areas.

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In 2013, Space RCO initiated an effort

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to develop rapid manufacturing tied to a

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modular spacecraft bus. This bus, also utilizes

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responsive space parts that are

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a combination of commercial

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off-the-shelf parts and small satellite

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parts that can meet rapid time-lines of

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less than a year. This design, which was

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developed by the Air Force and NASA is

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scaled and reusable between
other government agencies.

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The two Polar Scout spacecraft

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were built and put through a robust test

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campaign at production facilities
in Albuquerque New Mexico.

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The test campaign included all production

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testing, and system testing, including

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functional day-in-the-life testing and

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space environmental testing.

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These CubeSats, which are the size of a shoebox,

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were installed into an integrated payload

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stack, or IPS that houses
more than sixty satellites.

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The IPS is then integrated onto a launch vehicle

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and deployed into orbit.

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Because of the small size of the spacecraft,

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you don't need a dedicated launch vehicle.

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Once in orbit, the IPS then releases

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CubeSats in a time deployment sequence.

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As you can see, instead of only getting one satellite

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into space with a single launch, CubeSat technology

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allows us to deploy several at the same time.

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In 2017, the Indian Space Agency

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deployed more than eighty
CubeSats on a single launch.

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Once deployed in a sun-synchronous orbit,

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the Polar Scout satellites will demonstrate the

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ability to support COSPAS-SARSAT

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Satellite System in the Arctic,
and other remote regions.

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When an emergency beacon activates,

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the signal will transmit and be received

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by one, or both of the Polar Scout Satellites in orbit.

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The signal is then pre-processed on board

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and down linked to the ground for processing of

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the beacon signal information and location.

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Polar Scout will then downlink the distress call,

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which will then be relayed to emergency responders.

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In the demonstration of Polar Scout,

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the satellites will downlink the distress call

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to the next available ground station.

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From there the signal is sent to the

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

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then the signal along with the

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geographic coordinates are relayed to

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the Regional Coast Guard Station,

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where rescue crews can respond to an emergency.

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Set to launch in late 2018, the Polar Scout

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demonstration will show a possible

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solution if the COSPAS-SARSAT
Satellite System needs to be augmented.

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As more traffic navigates these treacherous

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waters, Polar Scout could be a critical

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component of supporting the nation's

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readiness for search and rescue in any remote region.

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[Music]