Raytheon BBN has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Air Force to develop a rocket cargo mission planning, and Command and Control, or C2, system for the U.S. Air Force. The contract has a potential value of $8.7 million over four years and is part of the U.S. Air Force 2030 Science and Technology Strategy's transformational science and technology portfolio.

During the initial 30-month effort, the Raytheon BBN team will develop mission planning and C2 concepts, identify and develop initial rocket cargo workflows and processes, and design advanced human-machine interfaces based on cognitive engineering principles. They will also work to identify coordination points across mission-planning and C2 stakeholders and propose solutions to address existing gaps in knowledge, organizations and processes.

"The tool we create must enable the Air Force to plan, coordinate and conduct a rocket cargo mission within hours," said Beth DePass, Raytheon BBN principal investigator for the project.

"At its core, this is a logistics challenge of epic proportions. Although the cargo would initially be pre-packaged and stored at the launch site for rapid loading, there are still tremendous challenges with how the DOD will safely load, launch, and deliver under very tight timing constraints.

"We will be taking into consideration pre-flight testing, weather conditions, launch approvals, and many other variables, to deliver that cargo precisely where it's needed, when it's needed, faster than current delivery methods. We will iterate with multiple DOD stakeholders, the Air Force, and the Space Force to ensure we have the best solution to one of their greatest challenges."

Success of the system relies on careful design and development of complex collaborative planning, and C2 processes and tools across multiple government and commercial organizations.

Raytheon BBN will leverage its extensive experience developing and maintaining logistics and planning tools used by the Department of Defense, such as the Analysis of Mobility Platform, or AMP, Global Mission Scheduling, or GMS, and the Rapid Course of Action Tool, or RCAT, to provide the capability to support the rocket cargo mission. Use cases will include high profile rapid delivery of DOD mission cargo and humanitarian aid.

Raytheon BBN is a subsidiary of Raytheon Intelligence and Space, a business of Raytheon Technologies.

Work on this contract will be conducted in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Asheville, North Carolina; Mountain View, California; Stanford, California; Austin, Texas; and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Related Links
Raytheon Intelligence and Space
Military Space News at SpaceWar.com

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Northrop Grumman-built satellite to support US Space Force national security mission
Dulles VA (SPX) Jan 17, 2023.
Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Long Duration Propulsive ESPA (LDPE)-3A spacecraft launched successfully in support of the USSF-67 mission. This spacecraft helps advance rapid access to space for the U.S. Space Force and marks the third successful launch in the LDPE program. The LDPE-3A was built using Northrop Grumman's ESPAStar, providing rapid access to space by maximizing the available volume inside a launch vehicle. This bus carries hardware for five independent missions, eliminati ... read more

Read more from original source...