The
Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space Vehicles Directorate, in
collaboration with the Space and Missile Systems Center, Military Satellite Communications Directorate, and NASA Glenn Research Center,
plan to conduct fundamental research to increase knowledge and
understanding of atmospheric effects on radio frequency signal
propagation in the V and W bands. The Air Force announced the
research effort in a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) on Monday.
Known
as the W/V-band
Satellite Communications Experiment (WSCE) program, “specifically,
the objective is to statistically characterize channel propagation
effects in the V (71 - 76 gigahertz) and W (81 - 86 GHz) frequency
bandwidths of the electromagnetic spectrum,” the AFRL said in the
BAA. “Channel propagation effects can include, for example, signal
attenuation, phase dispersion, and depolarization. It is necessary to
correlate the long-term channel behavior to atmospheric and
meteorological parameters. Measured data will be used to develop and
validate modeling and design tools that can be used to design and
assess future military satellite communication architectures.”
The Air Force invites companies interested in participating in the research to submit a proposal to the AFRL at Kirtland Air
Force Base by Feb. 7. The
Air Force anticipates awarding a minimum of one contract. Anticipated
period of performance is approximately 108 months.
Cost
of the overall WSCE program is estimated to be $30 million. The
initial task order is estimated to not exceed $2 million.
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